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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359814">lost and found (and lost again) | on hiatus |</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Firebender from Aerilon [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>BAMF Female Characters, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Female Friendships, Friends to Enemies to Friends to Lovers, OC firebender, big brother sokka, rated for minor violence and language</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:35:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>22,501</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359814</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Saiya traveled across the globe along side the Avatar with the idea that she would teach him firebending. Now that Aang's decided he isn't learning firebending, and she has a lead on her lost brother, can she choose between family and friends? </p><p>(A continuation of "holding on to hope (and loosing grip)" following book 2 of ATLA. You have to read the first part to understand. Firebender OC insert with a friends to enemies to lovers story with Zuko. CURRENTLY ON HOLD due to school and sports, sorry!)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)/OC, Zuko (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Firebender from Aerilon [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1821355</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Avatar State</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Still reeling over the information Pakku shared with her and the events at the North Pole, Saiya considers her place on the team and her duty to the Avatar as Aang tries to master the Avatar state.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The four of them stood on Pakku's boat, Appa swimming next to them as they chatted for the morning before preparing to part ways. A group of people from the Northern Water Tribe decided they would travel to the Southern Tribe to help rebuild and for Pakku to possibly reconnect with Katara and Sokka's grandmother. Saiya isn't what you would call a people person, so she hung back by Appa, feeding him some of the cabbages they found someone selling at the North Pole. Saiya feeds Appa the last cabbage and he groans in protest to which Saiya just chuckles.</p><p>"Sorry, buddy, no more!" She puts her hands up to show him she's not hiding any and Saiya thinks if sky bison could roll their eyes, Appa would. She pets Appa, laughing at his antics, as Aang approaches her.</p><p>"We're saying our goodbyes and Master Pakku says he has something for you," Aang tells her, and she gives Appa a few solid pats before walking over to where Katara and Sokka are already standing. Satisfied that everyone was there, Pakku starts giving them their parting gifts. He gives Katara a small vial of water from the oasis, which supposedly has unique properties.</p><p>"What does that even mean?" Sokka whispers next to her and she just shrugs. Next Pakku hands Aang scrolls like the one Katara stole from the pirates forever ago. Well, it was only maybe 2 months ago, with everything that's happened it feels like forever. Lost in her thoughts she doesn't even realize Pakku's now moved to stand in front of her and Sokka elbows her to pull her back to reality.</p><p>"As an honorary member, you should know the ways of the order," Pakku hands her a box with a lock on it, the key on a string resting on top, "I'm entrusting you to keep the secrets in the box protected." He squeezes her shoulder and smiles, "Say hi to Liang for me." She nods and grabs the key off the top of the box before heading over to Appa. Sokka follows behind her soon after and she gives him a curious look.</p><p>"That was fast?" She says and he drops his head.</p><p>"Yep." He says simply, popping the 'p', and Saiya lets it go. They walk up Appa's tail onto the saddle and turn back to the ships.</p><p>"Fly straight to the Earth Kingdom base to the east of here. General Fong will provide you with an escort to Omashu. There, you will be safe to begin your earthbending training with King Bumi." Pakku tells them and Aang gives him a bright smile and a thumbs up, Sokka gives him a small wave and Katara gives him a big one, while Saiya bows lightly. </p><p>"Thank you for everything, Pakku," "Thanks!" "Thank you! Say hi to Gran-Gran!" "Thank you, Master Pakku!" They all call out and Aang settles down on Appa's head, "Appa, yip yip!" Appa raises out of the water and sets off for the Earth Kingdom. Katara waves down at the boats until they're almost out of view before sitting down next to Saiya, Sokka sitting across from them. Saiya pulls out the small envelope she still had inside her bag and sets it next to her before starting to unlock the box. As she fiddles with the lock Katara secretly pokes at the envelope and spots the green and white letters, but can't make out what they are. </p><p>"What did Pakku give you?" She asks and Saiya finally manages to get the box open.</p><p>"I think it's information on the society my dad was in," she pulls out the letters and books inside the box. None of the books have titles, only the bottom of the spine is stamped with the pattern of a lotus tile. There's a small book titled 'How to play Pai Sho" and a few small trinkets in the box. Saiya pats everything down back into the box and reaches for the envelope, resting it on top and going to close the box but Katara snatches the envelope out.</p><p>"What's this?" She asks and Saiya snatches it back.</p><p>"Be careful with that!" She chastises which grabs Sokka and Aang's attention. "Remember when Pakku pull me aside after you guys had practice, the morning of the invasion?" She asks and Katara and Aang nod, Sokka doesn't but he doesn't say anything so Saiya continues, "well, he wanted to talk because he knew my dad, they were both members of the White Lotus." Saiya shares and all of their eyes widen, "my brother is in Ba Sing Se, he has a tea shop that he helps refugees at and gives information back to the White Lotus." She pulls the passports out of the envelope and shows them, all of them confused to see Saiya's face on it. "He tried to get me, my mom, and himself to Ba Sing Se before he had got drafted. He got the passports made but he never got to give them to us before he had to leave." She tells them, staring at her mother's face on the passport. They sit in silence for a moment before Saiya puts the passports in the box and locks it, putting the box in her bag and the key around her neck. </p><p>"Why are you keeping the passports?" Sokka asks.</p><p>"Just in case," Saiya says vaguely and Sokka shrugs, looking back to the water and Aang turns back to steering Appa. Katara, however, gives Saiya a strange look before looking forwards again, leaving Saiya to stew in her thoughts. They sit in silence for the rest of the flight, which surprisingly isn't that long. The base is easy to spot, with tall imposing walls and lots of commotion in and around it. Aang slowly descends Appa to the center of the base where a group of soldiers stands with who Saiya assumes is General Fong. </p><p>"Welcome, Avatar Aang!" Fong cheers and the soldiers clap, "I am General Fong, and welcome to all of you, great heroes! Appa, Momo, valiant Saiya, brave Sokka, and the mighty Katara!" At the informal titles, the gang feels confidence flood them.</p><p>"Mighty Katara? I like that!" Katara says smugly and suddenly fireworks go off around them. The look around and even the ever-humble Aang looks a little smug at the welcome display. </p><p>"Not bad, not bad!" Sokka muses and Saiya nudges him jokingly. </p><p>"Let us not waste any time!" The General announces and escorts them into the large building in the center of the base. They walk into a war discussion room and are gestured to sit down while Fond walks to the table at the front of the room, diagrams behind him. </p><p>"Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at the stories of how you singlehandedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole," Fond says and besides her, Aang cringes, "I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility." </p><p>"I try not to think about it," Aang says in a casual tone but Katara and Saiya share a worried glance.</p><p>"Avatar, you are ready to face the Fire Lord now!" Fond cheers and all four of their jaws drop to the floor.</p><p>"What!? No, I'm not!" Aang gasps.</p><p>"Aang still needs to master all four of the elements!" Katara says and Saiya glances at Aang to gauge his reaction. Is he still against firebending?</p><p>"Why? With the kind of power he possesses, power enough to destroy hundreds of battleships in a matter of minutes, he could defeat the Fire Lord now!" Fong says gleefully and they all share a look.</p><p>"He could only do that because he was in the Avatar state, not to mention the spiritual mojo involved," Saiya says.</p><p>"See, the Avatar state is where I'm-" Aang starts but Fong puts his hand up.</p><p>"I'm well aware! Your eyes and tattoos glow and you're able to summon unbelievable power. Without you, we'd be slaughtered before we even reach their shores," Fong draws a line on his map beside him, "But with you leading the way, as the ultimate weapon, we could cut a swath right through to the heart of the Fire Nation!" Saiya gulps and Sokka glances at her nervously. </p><p>"Right, but, I don't know how to get in or out of the Avatar State, much less what to do once I'm there," Aang argues, standing up, and Fong claps his hands, standing up as well.</p><p>"So, it's decided then. I'll help you figure out how to get into the Avatar State and then you'll face your destiny," He announces and they all stand up next to Aang.</p><p>"No, nothing's decided. We already have a plan. Aang's pursuing his destiny <em>his</em> way." Katara says forcefully and Fong puts his hands up in surrender.</p><p>"Well, while you take your time learning the elements, the War goes on, "Aang gulps, shrinking at the idea, "May I show you something?" Fong asks as he already starts to lead Aang to a window, "That's the infirmary, and those soldiers are the lucky ones," Aang's eyes widen, "They came back. Every day, the Fire Nation takes lives. People are <em>dying</em>, Aang! You could end it, <em>now</em>. Think about it." Fong says, picking his hand off of Aang's shoulder. He walks away and Aang watches him leave, looking downcast. </p><p>"I'm not a fan of this guy," Saiya whispers to the other two who nods in agreement. They all walk over to join Aang as another soldier walks towards them as well. </p><p>"I'll show you to your place of stay." The soldier says curtly and escorts them out of the center base to a smaller house just above the courtyard. He swings the door open for them, revealing a room with four beds against the wall in the back and a short table in the middle. While it's not as nice as the palace rooms they were staying in at the North Pole, it's better than camping. They all shuffle in and the soldier closes the door behind them. Still on edge from the talk with Fong, they set up their belongings quietly. Aang breaks the silence first.</p><p>"I'm going on a walk," He says, leaving quickly as the others share a glance.</p><p>"I think Fong got to him," Katara says, upset but Sokka shrugs.</p><p>"The guy has a point, every day the Fire Nation kills more and more," He looks to Saiya and cringes, "no offense." </p><p>"None taken," She says blankly. While she's proud of her heritage, she's not proud of her nation and has distanced herself from the idea of it. Hearing people disgrace it has become second nature to her.</p><p>"I don't think anyone should get to tell Aang what is and isn't his destiny," Katara says pointedly and Sokka shrugs again, not wanting to argue further. </p><p>"I'm gonna try and find a food market," Sokka says, though they both know he's just jittery and wants to do something, so they let him leave the small house and finish setting up their stuff for the night. Saiya pulls out the box Pakku gave her and starts reading some of the letters. Upon further inspection, they're updates from Liang. There's nothing deeply personal, just updates on refugees and an apparently corrupt government. She gets engrossed in the letters and doesn't notice Katara grabbing the passport from the open box and inspecting it. </p><p>"Your mom is really beautiful," Katara says, clutching her necklace and Saiya smiles sadly. </p><p>"Yeah," Saiya mumbles, looking at the passports conflicted, "I miss her a lot." Katara catches the look in Saiya's eyes and debates prying before finally caving.</p><p>"You want to leave for Ba Sing Se, to be with your brother, don't you?" Katara asks but they both know it's rhetorical.</p><p>"Aang is learning how to control the Avatar state right now, he doesn't need a firebending teacher. If you can even call me that," Saiya looks wistfully to the letters from her brother, and her heart aches, "I know it's selfish to abandon the Avatar just because I want to see my family..." Katara puts the passport back and fully sits up.</p><p>"It's not Saiya, I almost did the same!" Katara grabs Saiya's hand, "We'll miss you. All of us. But none of us can stop you from helping your family." The girls sit in silence for a moment before Saiya puts the letters back in the box and locks it, draping the key around her neck. "Think about it, you're welcome to travel with us forever. But if you want to go find your family no one will force you to stay." While the sentiment means a lot to Saiya, she doesn't feel like missing her friends is the biggest drawback. What if this plan falls through, and Aang has to learn firebending? Is it selfish of her to abandon her position as one of the Avatar's masters just to find her brother? She isn't even a master herself. The girls say nothing more to each other and go to their separate chores. Saiya reading through the material in the box and Katara sewing their clothing. Sokka returns not much later and tells them about what he saw around town. 'Ah' Saiya thinks, 'he left to scout the town, not find food.' The protectiveness of that makes her heart long for her big brother even more. They all get ready for bed as Aang finally comes back.</p><p>"I told the general I'd help him, by going into the Avatar State," Aang says, hollow, and while Katara gasps Sokka says nothing and Saiya pinches the bridge of her nose. She's caught herself doing that often nowadays.</p><p>"Aang, no! This is not the right way!" Katara argues and Saiya can feel an argument coming up.</p><p>"Why not? Remember when he took out the Fire Navy?" Sokka asks and Katara glares at him for bringing it up. Saiya's surprised he brought it up in the first place, they both agreed quietly to not mention it again as to avoid bringing up the death toll Aang caused. </p><p>"There's a right way to do this. Practice, study, and discipline!" Katara yells at Sokka but it's more directed at Aang. </p><p>"Or just glow it up and stop that Fire Lord!" Sokka counters and Katara throws her hands up in annoyance.</p><p>"If you two meatheads want to throw away everything we've worked for, fine, go ahead and glow it up!" Katara rolls over in her bed, putting an end to the disagreement. Aang sits down on his bed sorrowfully before looking to Saiya, who still hasn't said a word. </p><p>"What about you?" Aang asks her and she looks to the box with the key to finding her brother, and back to the Avatar, she promised her father's spirit that she would protect. </p><p>"Part of being the Avatar is making these decisions for yourself." She says pointedly and lays down, shutting down any followup questions that were on Aang's tongue. </p><p>The next day is exhausting. Katara decides to join them for their "Avatar state training", as they're calling it, even though she disagrees with it. They try everything for tea, to scaring Aang, to some strange concoction that they all could agree was just hot mud. They spend the whole day trying different methods that all end in failure and Saiya can see it wearing down on Aang. She even tries teaching him some breath meditations that she knows that only ended in him feeling calm, but not very Avatar-y. They go to bed with a thick tension between the four of them. Come morning the next day and Aang and Sokka are already gone. Saiya must have slept in because when she wakes up Katara is already dressed and doing her hair. Saiya glances around the small house for any sight of the boys before getting up and stretching. </p><p>"They're gone to talk to Fong," Katara supplies, and Saiya gives her a noise of acknowledgment before grabbing her clothes from her pack and changing. It's been long enough that Katara and Saiya no longer feel weird changing in front of each other, the lack of privacy that comes with traveling on a bison across the world makes it a little difficult to be modest. The girls still demand that Aang and Sokka leave for a bit while they change, but since it looks like it's just them that day Saiya changes into her everyday clothes. Now that they're in the Earth Kingdom Saiya can wear her usual grey pants and orange cropped shirt and she sits next to Katara at the mirror to braid her hair. They chat casually and Katara suggests they take a look around the base. Saiya can hear the hidden meaning behind it, of Katara not wanting to be around Aang and Sokka as they pursue what she thinks is the wrong path. The girls spend the morning looking around the base but are quickly bored. It's a military base, sure, but they were hoping for at least a pretty view but it's just stone as far as the eye can see. As they walk back to the home they're staying in the sound of earthbending becomes louder and louder. Saiya brushes it off as something Aang's doing, or maybe military practice, but Katara seems concerned. When they get back inside Saiya lays down on the bed dramatically while Katara sits down gracefully.</p><p>"There's nothing to do here," Saiya complains and Katara sighs. Sounds of fighting punctuate the silence and Katara cringes at every one. "I wonder what crazy thing they're trying to do now," Saiya says and Katara stands up, picking at the hems of her outfit nervously.</p><p>"Maybe we should just make sure Aang's okay," Katara says, grabbing her waterskin off the table and looking to Saiya. She nods and grabs the three daggers off the table before slipping them into their compartments on her waistband before following Katara out. Their home is sat at the top of the base so it only takes a quick jog before they get a good view of the absolute mess in the courtyard.</p><p>Sokka's running down the stairs, taking 3 at a time, as Aang airbends his way around soldiers who are.....attacking him? Saiya stumbles for a moment as Katara continues to fly down the stairs and she takes in the full picture. Yep, Fong is definitely attacking Aang, Saiya thinks to herself before jumping down the stairs to meet Katara and Sokka, softening her fall with a gust of fire. Sokka watches her land just as he grabs hold of his boomerang.</p><p>"The general's gone crazy! He's trying to force Aang into the Avatar State!" Sokka tells them before sending his boomerang flying and running off to help Aang. Katara runs off to help Aang and Saiya busies herself with taking down the soldiers on the sides. The large coins of earth roll towards the others and Saiya sweeps her leg on the ground knocking the five earthbenders flat on their backs. They gasp as the wind gets knocked out of them and Saiya moves on to the other row in the same fashion but in the middle of her sweep, her leg is encased in stone. Pushing her chi to her foot the stone explodes from the energy of her fire and she continues on. The soldiers trap Katara in between the earth coins and Saiya runs for her. She knocks the earthbenders down with three more blasts of fire, releasing Katara who sends a water whip for Fong. </p><p>"Maybe you can avoid me ... but she can't!" Fong announces from his high ground on the stairs. At the twist of his hand, Katara sinks into the ground just past her shins. </p><p>"I can't move!" She screams and Saiya runs out for her but once again stone traps her feet. Just as she breaks one foot free the other gets another layer of stone wrapped around it, creeping up to her mid-thigh. </p><p>"Don't hurt her!" Aang yells as he sends a kick of wind that Fong easily blocks. For the attack, Fong sinks Katara waist-deep.</p><p>"Katara! No!" Sokka calls out and tries to reach for her but Fong traps his steads feet, sending him flying into the gap of the earth coin. The hole tightens around Sokka and traps him in it as he struggles. </p><p>"Fong! Stop this!" Saiya yells and sends a punch of fire to Fong and dodges swiftly and raises his hand. Before Saiya can react the earth below her reaches up and captures her hand in the motion, leaving her in a stretched out position with one hand jutted out and one foot planted on the ground. Next to her, Saiya can hear Katara's panicked breath. </p><p>"Stop this! You have to let her go!" Aang cries and Fong's face develops a wicked grin. </p><p>"You could save her if you were in the Avatar State!" Fong demands, "You could save all of them!" At this Katara sinks a little deeper, now into the ground up to her chest. The coin around Sokka tightens and even from the distance, Saiya hears the air gets squeezed out of him. The stone trapping Saiya creeps up further, now trapping her entire leg up to her stomach and her whole arm up to her neck. </p><p>"I'm trying ... I'm trying!" Aang yells, tears springing at the corners of his eyes. Katara sinks even further and Saiya can't tell what happens to Sokka before the stone creeps up and pins her neck in an upturned position, only her left hand, right leg, and head free from stone. </p><p>"Aang!" They all cry out and Aang shakes from fear and exertion. </p><p>"I don't see glowing!" Fong taunts and only Katara's head is out of the ground now. Sokka struggles to breathe and Saiya feels the stone wrap around her torso and starts to creep down her free limbs. </p><p>"Please, Aang!" Katara cries out as she watches Saiya become encased in stone and her brother's ribs crushed. Aang falls to the front of Fong and cries.</p><p>"You don't need to do this!" Aang cries and Fong glares down at him in disappointment.</p><p>"Apparently, I do." He says emotionlessly and Saiya feels the last bit of stone trap her as Katara sinks fully into the ground and Sokka yells out in pain from the earth around him trying to close completely. Saiya can feel her breath push against her face as the stone encases her face and she's never felt claustrophobic until now. She can only hear the blood rushing in her ears and she starts to panic. The earth around her shakes and she can hear crashing and yelling but nothing registers more than surface level because the sheer amount of <em>fear</em> in her overrides everything. </p><p>While her whole body was covered in the rock for only a few seconds, a minute at most, it feels like years as it cracks and falls around her. It falls in chunks and she crumbles to the ground, breathing quick and feeling her heart hammer in her chest. She coughs violently as the sounds around her finally hit her and it sounds like fighting. She feels hands on her shoulders and shes guided away by someone as a tremor shakes the earth. </p><p>"Saiya, breath!" Some- <em>Sokka</em>, she realizes with relief- yells and grips her shoulders tighter. She takes shuttering breathes in and looks up to see Aang, the kid she's come to see as a little brother, in a tornado of earth and air as the ground below him ripples. </p><p>"Oh my god." Is all she can say as she grips Sokka's forearms and watches as Katara pushes against the wind to reach Aang. In his tornado, his body jerks for a moment and the glow leaves his body as he slumps and the ground ceases it's shaking. He falls and Katara rushes to him, hugging him tightly. </p><p>"Come on," Saiya urges Sokka and the two grab the ostrich horse nearby and hop on to traverse the now rocky and destroyed courtyard. They walk up behind general Fong just as he finishes his talk about continuing to train Aang and Saiya laughs bitterly as Sokka clubs him on the back of the head, knocking him out. They glance around the nervous foot soldiers who look unsure of what to do. Their general just got knocked out, by the Avatar's friend, who the general just tried to attack. Saiya pinches the bridge of her nose <em>again</em> and she sets a promise to herself to break the habit.</p><p>"Anyone got a problem?" Sokka asks the crowd of soldiers who shake their heads no unanimously. Saiya, Katara, and Sokka all shoot daggers to the lone soldier who approaches them, his head bowed.</p><p>"Would- would you still like an escort? To Omashu?" He asks quietly.</p><p>"No, I think we'll be just fine," Saiya says venomously as she helps Katara and Aang onto the back of the ostrich horse and they travel back to their small house to collect their belongings. They collect their belongings quickly and Saiya is reminded of the reason they never unpack and pack light. This time she catches herself before she pinches her nose bridge and settles for angrily setting her stuff on Appa's saddle, who had conveniently landed in front of their house. The pile onto him and Sokka sends them off, Aang sitting on the saddle with them curled in on himself.</p><p>Katara and Saiya share a look and then scoot onto either side of Aang. Katara rests her head on his shoulder and Saiya wraps an arm around both of them and pulls Aang into her side. Her heart swells with pity for Aang, but also pride at his bravery. Then, her heart breaks when she realizes she very well could leave them in search of Liang. She pushes the argument in her head to the back for now and enjoys the moment shared between her and her friends. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WOW this is a long chapter, and hopefully a good start to the new book! Sorry it took so long to get this out, I got kind of carried away lol. </p><p>Super excited to get into this work because as I've mentioned there's a small story divergence in the middle of it! This book focuses a lot on Saiya and her character growth along with showing more of her personality so I'm super excited about that. And while the majority of Saiya and Zuko's relationship is in book 3, this book definitely has more than in book 1 so you guys can look forward to that!</p><p>Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Return to Omashu</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Still determined to have King Bumi be his earthbending teacher, the gaang breaks into the now Fire Nation occupied Omashu. However, a stray baby and a run-in with Saiya's old friend might throw a wrench into Aang's plan.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Finding out Omashu had been taken was a shock, to say the least. After all that work getting lost in that stupid tunnel, Saiya thought angrily, it wasn't even worth it. Saiya stared at the symbol of her people on the front of the great city with a heavy heart. Her father told her stories of when her great-grandfather was a general under Fire Lord Shizo, the Fire Lord before Sozin. The Fire Nation was in a great era of innovation and it hurts to know this is what they decided to do with their innovation. Caught up in her thoughts, she doesn't realize they're heading into the city until Sokka grabs her arm and pulls them along as they trek down the mountain.</p><p>"Why are we going into the city?" Saiya asks Sokka quietly.</p><p>"Aang wants to find Bumi," Sokka says, and when the confused look on Saiya's face doesn't drop he realizes his mistake, "Oh, yeah, you weren't here for that! Bumi is the king, and a friend of Aang's from 100 years ago," Sokka says casually like it isn't one of the weirdest things Saiya's heard in a long time, "he wants to find him because he needs an earthbending teacher but also because Bumi's his friend." Saiya can't deny Aang his friend, but she has her doubts that this will go as smoothly as he thinks. He suspicious are already being proven right when Aang leads them through a sewage tunnel to get into the city. Katara and Aang bend their way through the tunnel but fire doesn't exactly help in this situation and Sokka doesn't even have an option so they're left to be covered in sewage. They climb out of the sewer and Katara splashes them clean and Aang dries them off as Saiya feels a strange sucking sensation on her arms and the sliver of skin left exposed by her shirt. Looking down she sees three purple <em>things</em> attached to her.</p><p>"Get it off!" She screams as she tries to rub the purple things off and they...chirp at her? She pauses for a moment and makes eye contact with them, realizing they must be some kind of animal that lives in the water in the sewers. She quiets down and tries to pull them off with no avail, while Sokka continues to flail next to her.</p><p>"Ahh! They won't let go! Help!" Sokka yells next to her and Katara smacks her hand over his mouth and shushes him as Aang rubs the sides of the ones on Saiya's arm. </p><p>"It's just a purple pentapus!" Aang says happily as the pentapus he was rubbing pops off of Saiya's arm with another chirp. Saiya rubs the one on her stomach the same way and it pops off as well, along with the one on her other arm, but they leave small purple marks in the shape of their tentacles. Looking at the two in her hand she notices how they look almost like they're smiling. </p><p>"Aww, they're kind of cute!" Saiya pokes at them and they chirp more before popping off her hands and falling back into the sewer. </p><p>"Hey! What are you kids doing out past curfew?" Someone from behind yells and they all turn and see three guards walking towards them. Their stomachs plummet and Saiya tries to discreetly shove Aang behind herself.</p><p>"Sorry. We were just on our way home," Katara lies, and the guards scowl at them but they don't give them a moment to doubt the story as they all turn to leave. Sokka corrals them forward and Saiya can see in her peripheral that the guards are still following them.</p><p>"Wait, what's the matter with him?" The guard asks, pointing to the welts on the back of Sokka's neck. Saiya looks at the similar welts on her arms and thinks on her feet.</p><p>"We have pentapox, sir" she gives a fake groan and coughs dramatically towards the guards, lifting her arms to show the dots, "it's very contagious." Sokka catches on and sniffles deeply as the guards' eyes blow wide. </p><p>"Oh, it's so awful," Sokka complains and amps up the sick act, leaning heavily onto Katara, "I'm dying!" He whines and coughs harshly and Saiya sways forward. </p><p>"We're out getting preparations done for the funerals," Katara whispers to the guards and makes her eyes water with fake tears, "it's very deadly."</p><p>"Hey, I think I heard of pentapox!" The second guard nods to himself, "Didn't your cousin Chang die of it?" He asks the first guard and he thinks for a moment.</p><p>"Yeah, now that you mention it I think he did!" He says, very assured of himself, and looks to the group with horror, "We'd better go wash our hands, and burn our clothes!" The two guards leave swiftly and Aang laughs lightly as he picks up the pentapus still on the lid of the sewer.</p><p>"Thanks, little buddy!" Aang rubs his head and it trills joyfully. </p><p>"Let's find Bumi and get out of here," Katara says and they look around as if the king is going to pop out at any moment. From the stories Aang told in the sewer, Saiya doesn't rule him doing that out of the question. </p><p>"Where would they be keeping him?" Sokka asks and Saiya looks to the large mental construction in the center of the city, classic Fire Nation metal architecture. The flags on the building make her homesick, in a bittersweet way, and she pushes the feeling down as she points to it.</p><p>"Somewhere he can't earthbend," they follow her finger to the building, "somewhere metal." They all walk to the center of the city and by the time they get there, it's twilight. There's surprisingly few guards, and no real signs of battle, which only confused Saiya more. Aang boasted about how brave and resilient King Bumi is, why on earth (no pun intended) is this town, not a massive battleground? Below them walks a small party, nothing more than a few guards and probably some noblemen. And above them is a boulder rolling full speed, about to crush said party. Just as Saiya registered it, Aang had already acted, smashing it with a gust of air. </p><p>"Aang, do you want to blow your cover?!" Katara demands as the party below is frozen in shock. It doesn't last long, though.</p><p>"The resistance!" One woman yells and points to them and, <em>is that Mai?!</em> Now it's Saiya turn to be frozen in shock as small knives fly her way and, yep, that's definitely Mai. No one is that skilled with throwing knives, it's where Saiya picked up the idea of using her daggers. The guards start after them along with Mai and the gang takes off running in the opposite direction. Katara spins around and whips her water into the two guards, sending them flying to the side and out of the fight. Mai, skillful as ever, simply dodges the whip and keeps on running. Katara continues running while Saiya sends a punch of fire Mai's way and that finally gets her to pause for a beat. The two girls stare at each other, both shocked to silence that only an awkward laugh from Saiya breaks.</p><p>"Long time no see?" Saiya suggests as an icebreaker (<em>again</em>, no pun intended) and Mai looks at her with confusion.</p><p>"That's where you went?" She gasps out in the rare time she's showing emotion, "You ran off to <em>Omashu</em>?" She asks, spitting the city's name out like a curse, and before they can continue the conversation Katara sends a wave over Mai and grips Saiya's arm. </p><p>"Can you stop having secret relationships with the enemies!?" Katara laughs, but Saiya can hear the future lecture behind the words. Once she looks back, Mai is in hot pursuit of them. Aang jumps in front and blows the scaffolding above her down. Mai rolls out of the way and throws another blade at Aang, who catches it on his staff and follows his friends. As they round the corner, more guards flank them. With Mai to their right and guards to their left, they prepare their stances and get ready to fight. It was unnecessary, however, as the ground flips below them and they're dumped into a tunnel with a thud. They sit their, disoriented, as a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers look at them with a mixture of confusion, annoyance, and amazement. The two groups stare at each other for a second before Aang finally gets a sense of his surroundings.</p><p>"You're the military!" He announces and two of the guards look at each other and snicker. </p><p>"Yes." The man standing closest to them, who Saiya assumes is the leader, says blankly. "And you must be the Avatar, we were made aware of your arrival by the Northern Water Tribe. We hoped our message would have reached you in time, but it obviously didn't, seeing as you're here." At that, the four of them share a confused look.</p><p>"What do you mean?" Saiya asks and the soldier sends her a dirty look. Ah, so the Water Tribe mentioned the whole 'I'm Fire Nation' thing, Saiya thinks awkwardly. </p><p>"I mean that we have been captured, and the Avatar shouldn't be in a city that's now run by the Fire Nation." The soldier says it like it's common sense and Saiya glared at him. The tense silence was unbearable as the two other soldiers offered their hands to the gang as they stood up and brushed themselves off. The soldiers led them down the tunnels that have chatter echoing down them. "We've set up a resistance." He tells them as they reach a large room filled with civilians and military members alike.</p><p>"Is King Bumi with you guys? Is he leading the resistance?" Aang asks and the soldier clenches his fists with the other two stiffen. </p><p>"Of course not!" The soldier snaps, "The day of the invasion, we readied ourselves for battle. We were prepared to defend our city, to fight for our lives and for our freedom. But before we even had a chance, King Bumi surrendered." He tells them and Aang's brows furrow. "I asked King Bumi what he wanted to do. He looked me in the eye and said 'nothing'" The soldier is practically shaking with anger at this point. </p><p>"He didn't tell you anything?" Sokka asks and the soldier laughs bitterly.</p><p>"No, he literally said 'I'm going to do nothing'", he says with air quotes as Aang looks dejected, "It doesn't matter now. Fighting the Fire Nation is the only path to freedom. And freedom is worth dying for." He addresses the crowd with that last statement and while a few look assured, the majority of them look sick at the idea. </p><p>"Actually there's another path to freedom. You could leave Omashu. You're directing all your energy to fight the Fire Nation, but you're outnumbered," The soldier looks angry that Aang could even suggest that, but the two behind them share a look of understanding, "You can't win. Now's the time to retreat, so you can live to fight another day." Many in the crowd let out a breath at the idea of living another day.</p><p>"You don't understand. They've taken our home, and we have to fight them at any cost!" The general snaps but a soldier in the crowd steps forward.</p><p>"I don't know, Yung, living to fight another day is startin' to sound pretty good to me..." He says quietly and those in the crowd nod with him. Others voice their agreement, some quietly and others more aggressive, and the general, Yung's, resolve quickly dissolves.</p><p>"Fine. But there are thousands of citizens that need to leave. How're we going to get them all out?" He asks, turning to the group who pauses for a moment to think of ideas. Sokka looks around as if the cave will give him an idea, but the bruises still on Saiya's arm catch his eyes.</p><p>"Suckers!" He cheers out and they all give him a bewildered look. "You're all about to come down with a nasty case of pentapox." He gives the others a smile who think about the idea before nodding in agreement with Sokka's plan. They work together to gather buckets of the small pentapi, handing them out to give everything the matching bruises all over their body. They run through the plan with Yung, who briefs the crowd before leading them to the gates of Omashu. The plan works better than anyone would've expected, and by nightfall, they're outside the city and Yung is doing a headcount. Saiya is going around helping everyone set up their campfires and while most look uncomfortable at the display of firebending, many thank her. As she heads back to where Katara and Sokka are camped, along with Aang who just rejoined them, someone grabs her hand. Looking down, it's an old man who's by himself. His campfire is unlit, and Saiya realizes she must have missed him as he's by himself mostly hidden by darkness. She gives him a quick apology, lighting the kindling in front of him on fire, and starts to move away but the grip on her wrist is still there. </p><p>"How old are you?" He asks her and she gives him a quizzical look. </p><p>"I'm 16, sir," She tells him and can feel her heart racing. She waits for him to yell at her, mock her for being Fire Nation, but he just gestures for her to sit down. She sits down in front of the fire with him.</p><p>"I'm very old, obviously," he laughs loudly, and Saiya wonders if every old person in Omashu is a nutbag, "I remember when the Fire Nation had just started colonizing the Earth Kingdom and when Fire Nation civilians started speaking out against it, they would disappear. Many families started immigrating to cities like Omashu, and after 100 years it's hard to find Earth Kingdom towns that don't have a least some Fire Nation blood." Saiya sits in shock but he continues his story, "Lots of people here think that everyone in the Fire Nation is bad, but here you are, helping us." The man stares into her eyes and she can make out the flecks of deep yellow in his green eyes, how his skin has a yellow undertone unlike the olive tones she's seen many of the other civilians have, and she gasps.</p><p>"You're Fire Nation?" She asks and the man laughs loudly again.</p><p>"No," he says, chuckling, and Saiya goes back to being confused before he says, "and I'm not Earth Kingdom either. You and your friends are bringing in an era of peace where I don't have to be either." He gives her a soft smile, "Thank you, for not only helping the people of Omashu but showing them what a true Fire Nation soul is like." She wants to jump into questions for the old man, but she hears Katara calling her over. Getting up, she gives the man a deep traditional fire nation bow and jogs over to join her friends. </p><p>"Who was that?" Katara asks and Saiya shrugs, sitting down to join them around the fire.</p><p>"Just an old guy asking about the Avatar, who's surprised," She brushes off, not wanting to share the man's secret. The others shrug and Saiya's attention is quickly drawn to the baby in Katara's arms that she somehow missed.</p><p>"Umm...when did that happen?" She asks, pointing to the kid, and Sokka laughs.</p><p>"What? Don't like kids?" Sokka teases and Saiya glares at him.</p><p>"I'm fine with kids, I just wasn't expecting Katara to be holding one!" She defends and Yung's serious voice causes them to drop the jokes.</p><p>"It's the governor's son, we think he snuck a ride on the Avatar's lemur," Yung tells her and Saiya's brows furrow.</p><p>"They probably think we kidnapped him." She says and Yung nods.</p><p>"We have to figure out how to get the kid back, but I don't want to send my men in with the possibility of being captured," Yung says and they're distracted by Sokka reprimanding the kid. </p><p>"No! Bad Fire Nation baby!" He yanks his club out of the baby's hands, who almost instantly starts crying. Katara glares at Sokka who looks between his sister and the still crying baby, "Oh alright," He resigns and gives the club back to the kid, who stops crying and starts fiddling with it. Katara awwes at the sight and picks the baby up. </p><p>"You are too cute!" She puts the baby in her lap and starts playing with him and the club while Yung just glares </p><p>"Sure he's cute now, but when he's older, he'll join the Fire Nation army," Saiya snaps her head to Yung and gives him a cold look, which he simply returns, "You won't think he's so cute then. He'll be a killer." His eyes shoot ice at Saiya and she growls.</p><p>"Most citizens don't even choose to fight! Every family has to have one member in the military, how do you think the Fire Nation has such a large military?" She snaps and Yung rolls his eyes.</p><p>"They could abandon their posts, but instead they kill. Even if they didn't choose to join, they choose to stay." He says it like it's so simple and Saiya can feel the steam literally coming out of her nose as her hands heat up. </p><p>"It's not that easy!" She yells and the other groups around them look over anxiously. Saiya looks and sees them cower under her gaze and her stomach drops. She's practically proving Yung's point, and he knows it too. Giving him one more nasty look, she hugs her legs and watches the fire in front of them. Just in time to cut the tension, a messenger hawk lands on a rock behind them. Aang grabs the scroll off it's back and reads it quickly.</p><p>"It's the governor, he does think we kidnapped his son!" Yung gives a quiet 'I told you so' and it takes all of Saiya's will power to not snap at him again, "So he wants to trade him, in exchange for King Bumi!" Aang's face lights up along with Katara's, but Sokka and Saiya share a knowing look. </p><p>"You realize we're probably walking right into a trap." Sokka voices both of their concern but Aang naively shakes his head.</p><p>"I don't think so. I'm sure the governor wants his son back as much as we want Bumi." He looks at the happy baby in Katara's lap and smiles, "It's a new day. I have a good feeling about this." Katara smiled at Aang but Sokka and Saiya read over the letter Aang had passed around with concern. Saiya paused for a minute, remembering Mai. Last she had known, she was an only child, but the only reason she would have left the capital was for her family and her dad was trying to get on Ozai's good side. Maybe her dad was the governor? Saiya thought nervously, that would explain why Mai was here. </p><p>"What are you thinking so hard about?" Sokka knew her too well and knew that look on Saiya's face was never good. It meant she was either thinking about something that will go wrong, or brooding about something that has gone wrong.  Saiya looked up and the nostalgic look in her eyes caught Sokka off guard as she turned and caught Katara's eye as well. </p><p>"Remember the girl throwing knives and arrows at us? I kind of sort of...know her." Saiya grimaced as the other three gasps and Yung raises an eyebrow at her.</p><p>"How many of our enemies do you know?!" Aang asks and Saiya furrows her brows. </p><p>"I told you how I knew Zuko and his sister when I was a kid. Well, it was me, my brother, Zuko's sister Azula, and her two friends Mai and Ty Lee. That girl was Mai, she isn't a bender but she's an expert with throwing projectiles. And wherever Azula went, Mai and Ty Lee followed, so I'm wondering where they are if they're here at all." Yung rubbed his chin in thought but eventually shook his head in disagreement. </p><p>"That girl, Mai, is the governor's daughter," Saiya nodded at the confirmation of her theory, but was still confused on when Mai got a little brother, "but the Fire Princess isn't here. Last intel I had was she was after the Dragon of the West." Yung said and Saiya gasped while the other three just looked more confused. </p><p>"Why?" Saiya demanded, "He was with Prince Zuko last we saw, at the North Pole." Saiya stopped herself, remembering the events at the North Pole, and growled, turning to Sokka, Katara, and Aang who looked very lost. "Zhao," She spits the name out and the others' eyebrows shoot up at the admiral's name, "Iroh attacked Zhao for killing Tui, and he sort of helped up, so Zhao probably labeled him a traitor and Ozai sent Azula after him," Saiya tells them and Sokka raised an eyebrow.</p><p>"Isn't Iroh Zuko's uncle, making him this Azula chick's uncle as well?" Sokka asks and Saiya nods, "Wow...that's one messed up family." Yung laughs, but the others just look sick at the idea of the Fire Lord sending his daughter to kill his brother. It's been years since Saiya had heard, or seen, Ozai's abuse, and the memory of it came with cold fear. </p><p>"Well it gets the Dragon of the West out of the picture, and distracts the Princess, so that's two problems out of the way," Yung dismissal somehow doesn't make them feel any better, "We'll go through with the deal, I don't want to have to deal with the baby and it gets the King back. You won't have to worry about the princess, though I'm not sure if that Ty Lee you mentioned will be here." Saiya nods but still has a bad feeling in her stomach. Somehow, she knows they aren't leaving this city happy. </p><p> </p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>As Mai restocks the small weapon holds in her sleeves and her belt, she gives a glance to the door to see if Azula's come to collect her yet. They're preparing for the trade of Mai's little brother for King Bumi and Mai would be an idiot if she didn't believe two things.</p><p>One, Saiya will be there and that will surprise Azula and Azula doesn't do surprises. It came as a shock that her as well that her childhood friend is part of the Omashu resistance but Mai supposes the girl had to go somewhere once her family was banished from the royal court. <br/>Two, Azula doesn't care one bit about her little brother, but she cares greatly about the power the King holds. Mai wouldn't say it out loud, but she's never been happier now that she has a little brother. Being an old child of a rich family for 15 years got boring, but now that she has Tom-Tom, she's got someone to share the isolation with. Mai wants to get her little brother back, but voicing that want to Azula is probably the worst idea she could have. Mai already knows what the point of this trade is for, and it's not to save her little brother. Azula heard about the assassination attempt done by 'a little boy, two Water Tribe teens, and a firebender', and wants to figure out who these people are. And that brings Mai back to Saiya. The second Azula sees Saiya she'll put two and two together, that the firebender from Mai's assassination attempt was Saiya. Then she'll realize Mai never told her that one of the people who tried to kill her was their old friend, and that won't go well.</p><p>Mai sighs and looks at herself in the mirror, noticing the very slight pull on her brows. This is what it's like being Azula's friend, you have to think through every word, every action, every mannerism. She nearly let herself slip when Azula mentioned that after the trade shes taking her and Ty Lee to hunt down Zuko and her uncle. Ty Lee brushed it off as Mai's old crush on Zuko, but they both know Mai's crush long died out. She was simply scared of having to possibly imprison one of her two real friends. Now, Mai wonders, if she's going to have to do the same for Saiya. </p><p>Saiya stopped showing up to play with them 6 years ago and Mai never really forgot about it. Sure, they were never close with Azula wanting a lot of attention, but Mai would like to consider their friendship genuine. Before Azula started becoming like, well, being like whatever she's like now, the four girls got along decently well. Zuko would join them as well as Saiya's older brother, and once Mai got over her silly crush on Zuko the six of them would have a lot of fun. </p><p>The footsteps down the hallway pull Mai out of her thoughts quickly, instantly recognizing the heavily armored steps paired with the almost skipping feather-light steps. </p><p>"Are you ready?" Azula asks nonchalantly as she opens the door, Ty Lee poking her head into the room as well and her eyes widening with childlike glee at the weapons on the table in front of Mai. She forgets how scary Ty Lee can be.</p><p>"Yes," Mai says blandly, putting her stoic mask back on as she decides on the Saiya predicament. "As a warning, I think one of the assassins from earlier, the firebender, was Saiya." She floods her voice with boredom that not even Azula could find a crack in. Deep down, she's terrified of how Azula will react. Then again, that's how she is with anything Azula does. The look in Azula's eyes is something Mai can't figure out. Sadness? Nostalgia? Hatred? Azula says nothing for a moment as she stands there and Ty Lee and Mai share a split second look. They've gotten pretty good at communicating without words around Azula. Just as Mai gets ready to defend against one of Azula's outburst, Azula <em>laughs, </em>but it doesn't make either of the girls feel any better.</p><p>"Maybe we'll have a happy little reunion, or maybe a girls' night!" Azula says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She perfects her already perfect hair and turns around. "She's of no concern, she stopped combat training at the age of 10. If she becomes a problem," Azula pauses with her back to Mai but Ty Lee is close enough to watch guilt quickly cross Azula's face before she steadies her expression, "she won't become a problem!" Azula brushes off and continues down the hall. Ty Lee and Mai share another nervous look, following closely behind Azula. </p><p>"It'll be nice seeing an old friend!" Ty Lee offers to break the silence but the others say nothing as they head out the front of the hall into the sunlight. As they walk forward they make out the four people from earlier. The little boy is wearing a wig now, but Mai doesn't think anything of it once she notices the Water Tribe girl next to him is holding her little brother. Anger fills her for a moment before she realizes Tom-Tom looks happy, playing with the loops of the girl's hair. At least they didn't hurt him, Mai thinks as she gives a quick once over of the Water Tribe boy standing to the left. He has a weapon strapped to his back and Mai realizes he must be a non-bender. Next to him is Saiya who's gone deathly pale and is looking directly behind Mai, where Azula is walking. She leans over and whispers something to the Water Tribe boy who's eyes widen, glance to Azula, harden, and then whispers something back to Saiya. Mai can't hear the hushed conversation but doesn't both considering it once she hears the King's cage land behind her.</p><p>"Hi, everybody!" King Bumi calls out and the Water Tribe girl and Saiya raise an eyebrow, but the boy doesn't seem bothered and only keeps watching Azula. The little boy in the wig steps forward at the same time as Mai.</p><p>"My brother?" She asks and the little boy nods behind him to the Water Tribe girl. </p><p>"He's here, we're ready to trade," He assures her and Mai goes to walk forward to grab her baby brother before a perfectly manicured hand lands on her shoulder. Her stomach drops and she turns to face Azula who's giving an interesting look to the little boy. Of course, Mai thinks to herself angrily, this was going too well.</p><p>"I'm sorry, but a thought just occurred to me," Azula says loud enough for the other group to hear, "Do you mind?" She asks Mai and they both know its rhetorical.</p><p>"Of course not, Princess Azula," Mai says simply and steps back, but not before giving a concerned look to her brother. He's still happily playing with the girl's hair and Mai decides that he looks happy enough to not risk Azula's wrath for it. </p><p>"We're trading a 2-year-old for a king," Azula says and looks to King Bumi, " A powerful, earthbending king?" She asks him and he smiles and nods. Ty Lee gives Mai a guilty look, mouthing 'I'm sorry', to which Mai simply looks to the ground. Both the girls know where this is going.</p><p>"It just doesn't seem like a fair trade, does it?" Azula asks the others but doesn't wait for their response before gesturing her hand for the King to be raised back into the air, away from the Earth. </p><p>"See you all later!" The King calls and Mai is thankful that the group in front of them look just as confused as she feels by the King's antics.</p><p>"Bumi!" The little boy shouts and whips out a glider before propelling himself in the air. Azula tries to shoot him down but he just flies out of the way and Mai and Ty Lee are left starring at him in wonder before his wig flies off and reveals tattoos on his head.</p><p>'Airbender tattoos. Great.' Mai thinks bitterly. ' As if this whole ordeal couldn't get more complicated.'</p><p>"The Avatar," Azula smiles to herself, "My lucky day!" She says as she grabs onto a spare pulley and launches herself upwards after the King and the Avatar. Mai takes the opportunity to go after her brother, Ty Lee following suit. She watches as the Water Tribe girl hands Tom-Tom off to the boy and uncorks a waterskin on her hip. Saiya blows a whistle that either Mai is too far away to hear or it doesn't work and the three of them towards the edge of the scaffolding. Next to her, Ty Lee crawls under one of the gaps and trips the boy from below. All of them yell out as they watch the Water Tribe boy slide dangerously close to the edge, still holding her baby brother.</p><p>"Ty Lee watch it!" Mai scolds and Ty Lee gives her big watery eyes.</p><p>"I'm sorry!" Ty Lee apologizes before jumping out of the scaffolding and runs after the Water Tribe boy who's climbing down the scaffolding now. Mai focuses her attention on the Water Tribe girl who's apparently a waterbender. Knives and water clash as Ty Lee runs after the boy with her brother and almost catches up time him until Saiya kicks Ty Lee, in the chest, <em>hard</em>. Distracted by Saiya's sudden violence the waterbender manages to wrap a stream around Mai's ankle and send her flying next to Ty Lee, who's still on the ground. </p><p>"That was <em>mean</em>, Saiya!" Ty Lee complains and Saiya dares to look hurt. </p><p>"You're trying to attack my friend!" Saiya refutes and Mai seethes. </p><p>"Your friend has my little brother!" She yells back and helps Ty Lee up.</p><p>"And we're your friends too!" Ty Lee calls out and while the waterbender looks angry at the statement, Saiya looks hurt. Saiya almost apologizes but the waterbender steps in front of her.</p><p>"Well, she found better friends!" The girl says and tries to whip Mai. Mai dodges and pins the edge of her skirt to the ground, causing the girl to stumble. Saiya runs after Mai, pulling out daggers of her own.</p><p>"No firebending?" Mai mocks, hiding the genuine question with teasing. </p><p>"I don't want to burn you," Saiya says in all sincerity and Mai looks at her bewildered and almost puts her weapons down until Saiya yells out in surprise, collapsing to the ground. Ty Lee is standing behind her, hands positioned to chi block and looks over Saiya.</p><p>"This wasn't the best reunion," Ty Lee frowns and Mai looks over Saiya as well, positioning her to lay on her back and notices that she's completely knocked out.</p><p>"You hit her pretty hard," Mai comments and Ty Lee rubs the center of her chest.</p><p>"Well, she kicked me pretty hard!" Ty Lee says in annoyance</p><p>"What did you do?!" The waterbender screams and manages to unpin her skirt. She sends a wave over Mai and Ty Lee, knocking them back but avoiding Saiya who's still laying on the ground. Ty Lee slides off to the side while Mai tries to throw another arrow to pin the girl, but her arm gets trapped in ice. She tries to pry her arm free but only manages to crack the ice around her arm a little. Behind the waterbender, Ty Lee sneaks up and puts a few quick jabs into her arms and her water stream falls.</p><p>"How are you gonna fight without your bending?" Mai taunts and takes the opportunity of her shock to aim another dagger only for a...boomerang to knock it out of her hand? Looking up she sees a giant flying bison descend from the sky. </p><p>"I seem to manage!" Calls the voice from on top of the bison and as it lands Mai recognizes it as the Water Tribe boy from before. She doesn't have long to question where her brother is, however, as the bison slams it's tail down and sends her and Ty Lee flying off the edge of the scaffolding. She manages to use her daggers to pin herself to the side of the wood, and Ty Lee uses some kind of aerobics to send herself into one of the openings before pulling Mai back up. They sit together on the ledge as Mai puts her head in her hands.</p><p>"Do you think that waterbender meant what she said?" Ty Lee asks and Mai gives her a strange look.</p><p>"What are you talking about?" She asks and Ty Lee looks down to the drop below them.</p><p>"That Saiya thinks her new friends are better friends than we were." Ty Lee says sadly and Mai stops. She didn't give the comment second thought in the middle of a fight but now that it's over, the remark stings a bit. She doesn't answer Ty Lee and the two girls sit in silence for a bit, deciding to stay here rather than face Azula's anger over finding out they lost to the waterbender and boomerang guy. </p><p> </p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p> </p><p>Katara runs over to Saiya who's still lay flat on her back on the ground. Sokka hops off Appa and follows suit. She kneels next to her and tries to encase her hands in water to heal but realizes her bending is still gone. She's able to lift the water this time but doubts she's strong enough to heal. </p><p>"That girl in the pink, she did something and I can't bend!" Katara cries to her brother who looks terrified.</p><p>"At all?!" He asks, looking in fear between Saiya and Katara, and Katara shakes her head.</p><p>"No I don't think it's permanent, but it means I can't heal Saiya!" Katara looks back at Saiya and feels for a pulse under her jaw. She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding when she feels a strong heartbeat and while her forehead is warm, Katara writes it off as just a firebender thing. She puts one of Saiya's arms around her neck and Sokka goes to the other side to help. They carry her up Appa's tail and Sokka looks at Katara anxiously, like he's waiting for her to tell him what to do. In a way, he is, unsure if he can leave Saiya's side. Katara puts a calming hand on his forearm. "She has a heartbeat, I think the girl just knocked her out. We need to find Aang." Sokka nods and takes the reins as they take off form the scaffolding and fly above the city in search of Aang. Sokka follows the mail pathways that he saw Aang and Bumi take off down and spots Aang at the bottom of one, with Bumi going back up. He points it out the Katara and lands with a plop next to Aang. </p><p>"Why's Bumi leaving? And how is he earthbending?" Sokka asks as Aang walks up Appa's tail and sits down, looking at the ground the entire time.</p><p>"He says he's not my teacher, that I need to find someone else," Aang says dejectedly before looking up at gasping at the sight of Saiya in Katara's arms. "What happened?!" He cries and Katara tries to give him her best soothing look. </p><p>"One of the girls knocked her out with some kind of pressure point technique, she's alright, just unconscious," Katara reassures and Aang lets out a breath. </p><p>"Let's head back to the camp and gather our things, yip yip Appa," Sokka sets the plan and they take off for the camp on the outskirts of the city. In her arms, Katara feels Saiya shift and let out a groan. </p><p>"Saiya!" She calls out and Saiya cracks her eyes open, "Are you alright?!" Saiya winces at the volume of Katara's voice and sits up, rubbing the spots where Ty Lee hit her.</p><p>"Ty Lee did a number on me..." Saiya mumbles and Aang's brow furrows.</p><p>"So those were the girls you were telling us about? Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula?" Aang says and Saiya nods. Sokka grumbles from his position on Appa's head.</p><p>"Great, now we get to deal with Prince Dick <em>and</em> Princess Bitch." Sokka complains and Aang's eyebrows shoot up at the language while Katara laughs and Saiya smirks. They land in the camp and gather their supplies as Aang takes off to drop the baby off at the governor's palace. Saiya thinks over the images of her old friend's faces, it's been 6 years since she last saw them but they still look and act like they did all those years ago. The memories of them as kids hurt so Saiya pushes the images down and finishes packing up the last of her things, leaving just her bedroll as Aang returns without the kid.</p><p>"How'd it go?" Katara asks and Aang smiles.</p><p>"They were really happy to have their kid back," Aang tells them and they share a soft smile before Sokka lets out a loud yawn. Aang laughs at how comically loud Sokka is and lays down against Appa. "We'll sleep here tonight." He tells them and Sokka doesn't think twice before hopping in his sleeping bag and passing out. Katara rolls hers out and sits down before brushing out her hair and Saiya follows suit, rolling out the bedroll that Yung gave her begrudgingly and undoing her braids.</p><p>"Where to after this, Aang?" She asks and Aang looks up into the sky.</p><p>"Time to find an earthbending teacher, I guess," He says sadly and Saiya feels her heart pang. She gets up and walking over to Aang, laying next to him and pulling him into her side. He wraps his arms around her middle tightly and Saiya can feel wet spots on her shirt where his face is.</p><p>"I'm sorry about Bumi, Aang." Saiya rubs his back and he sniffles quietly but says nothing. They stay like that for a minute and when Saiya tries to get up to go to her bedroll, she realizes he fell asleep. Quickly, she comes to terms with the fact that she's sleeping on Appa tonight and glances back to Katara. Katara lights quietly and picks up a spare blanket, getting up and draping it over the two. Saiya doesn't comment on the extra soft look Katara gives Aang and wonders for a minute if this is what having a little brother would be like before falling asleep herself. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm pumping out chapters because I really want to get to the Saiya/Zuko stuff lol.<br/>Some notes: <br/>I didn't intend for the POV to become so tethered to Saiya, so I'm going to try and write more from others' focus. The POV will stay 3rd person semi-omniscient, but I'm going to try and have it connected more to a group rather than a person (minding a few exceptions). So in this chapter, we saw a bit more of Katara's emotions and thoughts along with the POV from Mai with Ty Lee and Azula, rather than only being Saiya's feelings and Mai's feelings! <br/>Also, I tried putting in my headcanon that people in the Avatar-verse live older and are more physically resilient than in our world. If the war is only 100 years old, and people can live to be 100 and still be pretty spry like Bumi, I'd imagine there are people who remember from before the war or when it just started. That the purpose the old man served, to show that there are people who remember before the war/before it was this bad. Also, Toph beats the shit out of Katara and Sokka a few times and they live so I headcanon that humans in this world can just take more damage. </p><p>Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are loved, let me know what you're thinking of the series so far!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Swamp</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>While searching the Earth Kingdom for an earthbending teacher, the gaang falls into a mystical-seeming swamp that shows them visions of the future. But is it a future Saiya's willing to accept?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A quick question: would you guys prefer if I stuck with what I have planned right now, or would you want this to become a "Zuko joins the gaang early" fic? I have an outline made for both and I can't choose which path I like more :/. On one hand, I love Zuko's turmoil that comes with him making the wrong choice, but I also want more than a few chapters of Zuko and Saiya + the gaang.  </p><p>Please let me know in the comments!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Being this high up always made Saiya a bit chilly, but otherwise, it was a beautiful day with a bright sky and fluffy clouds below them as they flew to the next Earth Kingdom village. Saiya, Katara, and Sokka sat in the saddle while Aang flew them to Chin Village, their next stop in their search for an earthbending teacher for Aang. Saiya and Sokka were mulling over Sokka's maps of the Earth Kingdom, with Saiya filling in the missing towns and updating what areas are Fire Nation occupied. Turns out the Southern Water Tribe being disconnected from the world for 60 years meant their maps were pretty outdated and that answered Saiya's question to how the gaang kept running into Fire Nation occupied territory before she came along. Katara was fixing the small tears in some of their clothing and while Sokka pencils in the updates Saiya gave him, she looks over Appa's side and watches the clouds. Wow, she thinks to herself, the ground seems a lot closer now. They were under the clouds now, instead of flying above their cover.</p><p>"Hey, Aang? Do you mean to be flying closer to the ground?" Saiya asks. Last she knew they were nowhere close enough to Chin Village to be descending. Katara puts her sewing kit away and Sokka looks up from his map when Aang doesn't respond. </p><p>"Aang?" Saiya asks again, standing up and walking towards Aang. He's staring directly at the land below them, which looks to be a foggy grey swap, and doesn't react to her voice or presence. "Hey, Aang, snap out of it!" She says louder and Aang finally seems to notice her, looking back at her in confusion, "Do you mean to be taking us down?" She asks and Aang looks even more confused before looking forward and noticing they are, in fact, lowering. </p><p>"What? I didn't even notice," He says and Saiya's brow furrows. Maybe he hit his head in Omashu or something? Katara seems to think the same thing and leans forward a bit.</p><p>"Is something wrong?" She asks and Aang's eyes glass over lightly again as he looks back at the swamp. </p><p>"I know this is going to sound weird, but I think the swamp is calling to me," Aang says, bewildered, and Saiya is convinced he has a concussion that they missed. </p><p>"Is it telling you where we can get something to eat?" Sokka jokes, holding his stomach and Saiya shoots him a glare. </p><p>"No, I ... I think it wants us to land there," Aang says quietly, still lowering Appa. </p><p>"There isn't exactly somewhere to land there," Saiya points out, looking over the saddle to the swamp. Now that she gets a good look at it, she can see what Aang means. There's some kind of...draw that the swamp has that has her leaning further over the saddle. </p><p>"I don't know. Bumi said to learn earthbending I would have to wait and listen, and now I'm actually hearing the earth," Aang looks back to the others, "Do you want me to ignore it?" Katara and Sokka share a look while Saiya continues to lean over the saddle, watching the swamp with a critical eye. </p><p>"Yeah," Sokka says simply and Katara grimaces at the swamp.</p><p>"I don't like the feeling it's giving me," Katara mumbles, and Momo huddles under her arm, darting away from the edge where he was looking at the swamp as well. </p><p>"There's something really ominous about it," Saiya says quietly to Aang with a worried look and he shrugs. </p><p>"Okay, since everyone feels so strongly about this," Aang shakes the reins and Appa glides upwards again, "bye swamp!" Appa groans and they fly up and away from the swamp, but Saiya still leans over the edge with a curious look to the swamp. Behind them, a quickly forming funnel cloud catches her eye and she gasps.</p><p>"You might want to speed up Aang, look!" She calls out at the clouds that have now become a fully formed tornado. The others glance back and yell out as well as Aang flicks Appa's reins to speed him up. The tornado is faster, however, and catches up to them quickly. Sokka and Katara grab the rim of the saddle and each other's hand as their tornado engulfs them but Saiya's legs are kicked up from where she was leaning over. She calls out to Aang as she clings to the edge of the saddle and he glances to his friends in fear before jumping into the middle of the saddle and airbending the tornado around them away. Saiya manages to pull herself back up on the saddle and crawls over to Katara and Sokka as Aang struggles with the airbending forcefield he's created. Slowly the forcefield shrinks and Appa's leg pokes out just enough that the tornado takes hold and flings them away. Appa is thrown off into the distance with Momo still clinging to his fur as Katara, Sokka, Saiya, and Aang fall into the swamp below. Aang lands softly with his airbending and Saiya steadies herself with her firebending, scorching the ground below her, as Katara uses the water on the ground to catch her while Sokka isn't as lucky and lands harshly in the water. Aang gets up in a hurry, looking around nervously. </p><p>"Where's Appa and Momo?!" Aang asks rhetorically before looking around, calling out into the swamp for the bison and lemur. As he bounces around the forest floor Katara and Saiya help Sokka up.</p><p>"You've got an elbow leech," Saiya points out, and Sokka glances around.</p><p>"Where! Where!" He demands and Katara snickers while Saiya pinches the bridge of her nose. </p><p>"Where do you think?" Katara asks sarcastically and pulls the leech off. </p><p>"Why do things always attach to me?!" Sokka cries as the girls laugh just as Aang lands next to them, looking downcast.</p><p>"You couldn't find them?" Katara asks and Aang shakes his head solemnly.</p><p>"Come on, let's look they can't have gone far," Sokka says before leading the way through the forest, pulling his machete out and whacking the vines and foliage away. They walk through the swamp for what feels like days but is only a few hours at most with Sokka slashing through the vines.</p><p>"We better speed things up," Sokka says, starting to quicken his pace but Aang sets a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>"Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp," Aang suggests and Sokka rolls his eyes.</p><p>"Aang, these are just plants. Do you want me to say "please" and "thank you" as I swing my machete back and forth?" Sokka mocks and continues onwards.</p><p>"Maybe you should listen to Aang. Something about this place feels ... <em>alive," </em>Katara tells her brother who shrugs plainly. </p><p>"I'm sure there are lots of things that are alive here and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find Appa as fast as we can," Sokka insists and continues forward. Katara and Aang follow after him but Saiya stops, hearing the rustling of leaves behind them. She holds her palm up and lights a small flame in the center, illuminating the foliage around her, and sees nothing. </p><p>"Saiya?" Katara calls back after noticing the girl had fallen behind them. Saiya looks forward to Katara with a start but relaxes once she makes eye contact with Katara. </p><p>"Sorry," She mumbles and jogs to catch up with the group, "I just don't like the feeling I'm getting here." Saiya glances over her shoulder one more time before looking forward again and keeping her palm lit. They must have been traveling for quite a while now if it's dark enough that she needs to firebend. They continue on like that for a while, each of them randomly calling out for Appa and Momo before Sokka stops abruptly. </p><p>"There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night," Sokka announces in the clearing before flies suddenly surround him. He swats them away with his machete while a bubble of gas on the forest floor pops next to him.</p><p>"What is that?" Katara asks, gesturing to the gas that was floating towards them. </p><p>"Nothing, just swamp gas!" Sokka says assuredly before the smell reaches them and they all gag, pinching their noses shut. </p><p>"Could this place get any worse?" Saiya groans before an ear-piercing scream breaks through the forest and they all jump and huddle together. They look around nervously before spotting a small white bird that opens its beak and makes the same scream. Saiya's shoulders slump in relief and Sokka glares at her.</p><p>"You just had to say something," he grumbles before setting his pack down, "let's just set up camp, maybe build a fire." They all follow suit and set their belongings down as Sokka cuts up some roots for fire kindling. </p><p>"Sokka, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing do that," Aang warns and Sokka tosses his hand back in a placating manner. </p><p>"No, I asked the swamp. It said this was fine." Sokka picks up the roots he just cut and holds them towards Aang, "Right, swamp?" Sokka shakes the stick and pitches his voice hight, "No problem, Sokka!" He mocks and Aang gives him an annoyed glare. Sokka sets the roots down in the center of their circle and looks at Saiya expectantly. When she doesn't set them on fire he glances at her only to see she's looking further into the forest. </p><p>"You gonna do your firebending magic, miss firebender?" Sokka pokes her side and she jumps, glancing at the others nervously before looking down at the roots and grimacing. </p><p>"Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?" Saiya asks and Sokka chuckles.</p><p>"Please, we're all alone out here!" He reassures her and she gives him a nervous look before sighing and lighting the roots on fire. They chat for the night and set up camp, munching on leftover fish and rice, and almost forget about the creepy setting. They fall asleep next to each other, Aang and Katara being in the middle with Sokka to the left of Katara and Saiya to the right of Aang. As they sleep the vines around them slowly creep up and wrap around their limbs without the group noticing. That is until the vines tighten and they're all pulled in opposite directions. </p><p>Sokka manages to dig his machete into the forest floor as the other three are pulled away. He chops the vines away from his legs and hurries up, looking around frantically for his friends. The vines wrap around him again but he chops them off once more before taking off running in the direction he thinks he saw one of his friends be dragged off to. The vines follow him quickly as he runs. Katara doesn't get dragged for long before freeing her hand and using her water whip to slice the vines off, but when she looks up she realizes she's nowhere near the campsite. Aang creates an air bubble around himself to push the vines away and ducks out before the can ensnare him again. He propels himself further into the trees and away from the vines, frantically looking around and calling for the others. Saiya gets dragged for a while, trying to heat her arms and legs to burn the vines off. Eventually, it works and she blasts the last ones off violently, scorching the ground below her and running back towards where she thinks the camp was. </p><p>Obviously, she got turned around in the commotion with the vines because after walking for a while in what she thought was the direction of the camp only brought her further into the swamp. </p><p>"Guys?!" She called out, trying to pretend she doesn't hear her heartbeat in her ears, "Aang? Sokka?! Katara?!" She screams and more birds scream back and she jumps and turns, shooting a hot blast of fire at the birds. Almost all of them fly away but one gets caught in the blast and falls to the forest floor, charred. Saiya's shoulders slump and her eyes well up as she kneels by the little bird. As annoying and terrifying as they were, she didn't want to kill it. </p><p>"If you can't even control yourself enough to not burn a small bird," An all too familiar voice calls from behind her, and she snaps her head back only to lock eyes with her brother, "how are you going to train the Avatar?" He demands and Saiya jumps to her feet and sprints towards him.</p><p>"Liang!" She cries out and throws her arms open, running towards him. But when she meets him and goes to wrap her arms around him, she finds herself hugging her own torso. "Wha- where...Liang?" She calls out and spins around only to find him standing on a tree root a few feet away. </p><p>"You're not good enough for the Avatar, so why are you staying?" Liang demands and Saiya shakes her head. This can't be her brother, he was in Ba Sing Se, he wouldn't say this. "Why won't you come to help me? Why not help mom?" He snides and Saiya steps back slowly.</p><p>"Who are you?" She yells and when a malicious smirk graces her brother's face she sends a firey punch towards him, squeezing her eyes shut. When Liang doesn't cry out or make any noise, she peeks her eyes open only to see a scorched tree root, her brother nowhere in sight. </p><p>"Saiya?" Calls a voice behind her and she screams out, turning around and kicking the air in a fire whip. This time she hears a cry and opens her eyes to see Aang making an air blast to deflect her fire.</p><p>"What the hell, man?!" Sokka demands while peaking over Aang's shoulder and Saiya gasps.</p><p>"I'm- I'm sorry Aang! I thought...I thought you were someone..." She trails off and Katara appears from behind Aang as well, looking at her with concern. </p><p>"Who did you see?" Katara asks and Saiya furrows her brow so she continues, "We all saw someone when we got dragged away. I saw my mom, Sokka saw Yue, and Aang saw a young girl," Katara informs her and Saiya deflates. </p><p>"I saw my brother," She mumbles and Sokka gestures to her wildly. </p><p>"See! We all saw the people we miss!" He supplies but Aang throws his hands in the air.</p><p>"I didn't! I don't know the girl that I saw!" He reminds Sokka, "All I know is our visions all lead us here." </p><p>"And where exactly is here? The middle of the swamp?" Saiya asks, looking around at the clearing she didn't realize she was in. They were standing on the roots of a massive tree. </p><p>"Yeah, the center ... it's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here. I knew it," Aang tells them and gives Sokka a glance with his last statement to which Sokka rolls his eyes.</p><p>"It's just a tree!" Sokka groans, throwing his hands in the air, "It can't call anyone. For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here!" He insists just as the universe decides to spite him and a large seaweed monster emerges from the water. They huddle together and scream only for the monster to crash his arm down in between them, causing them to split up. Sokka is picked up and swung around, only being released as Aang uses airbending to slice part of the monster's arm off. The monster goes after Aang, flicking the monk away and into the surrounding trees. As Sokka smashes the remaining bits of vine clinging to him, more rise behind him. The column attaches to the seaweed monster and he's swiped from the ground. Katara comes to his rescue this time as she slices at the monster's arm. Instead of releasing Sokka, more vines take the place of the ones Katara broke and reinforce their hold. Katara is flicked away by the vine monster as Aang watches her fall, distracted enough that the monster throws him away as well. Saiya comes up from behind and burns through the monster's arm, dropping Sokka in a pile of seaweed at its feet. He's simply absorbed by it once again, this time being held in the middle of its body. Katara manages to freeze its chest and blast Sokka out of the monster as Saiya and Aang use their respective elements to slice through the viney appendages. As they tear away more and more of its body, they catch a glimpse of a human inside. </p><p>"There's someone in there! He's bending the vines!" Sokka calls out and Katara springs to action, slicing the monster in half through it's mask. For a moment they think it's over until another column of vines shoot up and catch Katara in its hold. Aang throws himself towards the monster and splits it apart with his bending, revealing the man inside. </p><p>"Why did you call me here if you just wanted to kill us!?" Aang demands as they all look at the man inside, who's wearing nothing but a loincloth. </p><p>"What? I didn't call you here!" He says with an accent Saiya doesn't recognize. </p><p>"We were flying over and I heard something calling to me, telling me to land!" Aang explains and the man simply looks more puzzled. </p><p>"He's the Avatar, this kinda stuff happens a lot," Sokka grumbles and the man's eyes light up.</p><p>"The Avatar?" He asks and Aang nods, "Come with me," He gestures and they all share a look before Aang shrugs and walks after the man. They follow after him as he guides them up the gigantic tree.</p><p>"So...who are you?" Katara breaks the silence awkwardly.</p><p>"I'm Huu, I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it," Huu gives Sokka an upset look, "like this fella with his big knife."</p><p>"See, completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular guy defending his home. Nothing mystical about it!" Sokka insists and Aang glares at him.</p><p>"Oh, the swamp is a mystical place all right. It's sacred. I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan-grove tree," Sokka rolls his eyes so hard that Saiya feels like she can hear it and elbows him harshly, "I heard it calling me, just like you did!" </p><p>"Yeah sure, the tree seems real chatty," Sokka mocks and Saiya elbows him even harder and he yelps before smacking her arm. </p><p>"See this whole swamp is actually just one tree spread out over miles. Branches spread and sink, take root, and spread some more. One big, living organism. Just like the entire world," Huu explains and Aang eyes him skeptically. </p><p>"I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?" Aang asks and Huu smiles.</p><p>"Sure. Do you think you're any different from me or your friends or this tree? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree." Huu explains wisely and even Sokka looks mesmerized. </p><p>"But what did our visions mean?" Katara asks and Huu contemplates it.</p><p>"In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we loved, folks we think are gone," Saiya glances over her shoulder to where they came from, where she saw Liang, "But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death." Saiya's heart clenches at the thought of her brother dying but brushes it aside quickly. </p><p>"But what about my vision? It was someone I had never met," Aang asks and Huu shrugs.</p><p>"You're the Avatar. You tell me," Huu insists and Aang ponders it.</p><p>"Time is an illusion. So, it's someone I will meet..." Aang says and Huu nods in confirmation.</p><p>"Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Appa and Momo" Sokka intrudes and Aang furrows his brow. </p><p>"I think I know how to find them," Aang says as he kneels onto the tree and rests his hand flat on one of the roots. "Everything is connected," He mumbles as the roots start to glow lightly as the others look on in awe before Aang shoots up, gasping. "Come on! We've got to hurry!" He insists before taking off quickly. The others share and confused look before Katara bends the water around her feet to propel herself to keep up with Aang. Saiya wraps an arm under Sokka's arm and waves to Huu.</p><p>"Thanks for the help!" She calls as Sokka wiggles in her grasp, "you might want to hang on." </p><p>"What are you doing? Sai-AHHH" Sokka starts to question before Saiya propels them forward with her firebending like a jet pack. She doesn't have the strength to keep it up for long, but luckily it's close by as the sounds of a struggle draws her and Sokka closer.</p><p>"We're under attack!" Someone cries as they arrive on the scene where Aang is freeing Appa and Katara is fighting people who look similar to Huu. The men in the boats send a wave towards Katara which she simply redirects and looks at them in awe. </p><p>"You guys are waterbenders!" She states and smiles widely, lowering her guard. The swampbenders follow suit and stop attacking.</p><p>"You too, that means we're kin!" One of them states and Sokka cringes next to Saiya, the two having landed on a root and watching the scene unfold. </p><p>"I do NOT want to be related to guys who wear loincloths," Sokka grumbles, and Saiya chuckles. Behind them runs up Huu. The others in the boats notice and wave.</p><p>"Hey Huu, how ya been?" One calls out and Huu shrugs.</p><p>"You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual," he says simply and the gang looks around, bewildered. </p><p>"What about you two, the little bald boy and the quiet girl, are y'all waterbenders too?" One of the swampbenders asks and Huu smiles.</p><p>"Nah, he's the Avatar!" Huu points to Aang who smiles cheesily and waves a little. The other swampbenders gasp in awe before turning to Saiya.</p><p>"Are you the Avatar as well?" They ask and Saiya's mouth falls open, unsure if it's even a serious question.</p><p>"Uh, no, just a friend," She says simply after realizing they were being serious and they nod before gesturing for them to follow. </p><p>"Well, Avatar, why don't we show you our humble homes?" They walk further into the forest and the others follow. They quickly approach on a small camp where other swampbenders are. </p><p>"Welcome to the Foggy Swamp Tribe!" One of the original two introduce before going off to help with the dinner, "here, help yourselves." He hands them bowls of possum chicken vine soup that smells surprisingly good. They briefly introduce themselves to the other members of the tribe and eat their dinners, Appa and Momo sitting a safe distance away.</p><p>"How do you like that possum chicken vine soup?" One of them, who introduced himself as Due, asks and Sokka gives him a big smile.</p><p>"Tastes just like arctic hen noodle soup! So why were you guys so interested in eating Appa?" Sokka asks and glances at the catgator behind him, "You've got plenty of those big things wandering around." Due looks offended and Saiya hopes they didn't just break some cultural rule. </p><p>"You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family!" Due insists, feeding the fish he was cooking to the catgator (or Slim, apparently).</p><p>"Where'd you say you was from?" Another one, Tho, asks.</p><p>"We're from the South Pole," Katara gestures to her and Sokka and Tho looks to Saiya.</p><p>"How's about you?" He asks and Saiya gulps.</p><p>"Uh...I'm from Aerilon..." She says, hoping they don't know where that is.</p><p>"And you're all waterbenders?" He asks and Saiya feels like she's sweating bullets.</p><p>"Uh, they are," she points to Katara and Sokka, "I'm a firebender." Tho's eyebrows shoot up and Sokka gives her an "are-you-crazy" look.</p><p>"Cool, never met a firebender before!" Tho says happily and Saiya lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding as he glances to Katara and Sokka, who both still look terrified, "Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there, do they?" He asks and Katara is thankful for the shift in topic.</p><p>"No, it's all ice and snow," She says simply and Tho shivers. </p><p>"No wonder you left," Tho mumbles to himself and goes back to eating his soup.</p><p>"Well, I hope you all realize now that nothing strange was going on here!" Sokka announces and Katara gives him a curious look, while Aang just rolls his eyes and Saiya scoffs, "Just a bunch of greasy people living in a swamp!"</p><p>"What about our visions?" Saiya asks and thinks back to the words her not-brother said to her. They stung, but deep down Saiya feels like they're right.</p><p>"I told you, we were hungry, I'm eating vines for spirits' sake!" Sokka dismisses and Saiya glares at him before returning to her soup.</p><p>"But what about when the tree showed me where Appa and Momo were?" Aang asks as he gives Momo some bugs and the lemur looks anxiously at the swampbenders.</p><p>"That's Avatar stuff, that doesn't count," Sokka tells Aang before turning to Huu, "The only thing I can't figure out is how you made that tornado that sucked us down..."</p><p>I can't do anything like that. I just bend the water in the plants" Huu tells him and Sokka dismisses it.</p><p>"Well, no accounting for the weather. Still, there's absolutely nothing mysterious about the swamp!" Sokka finishes, satisfied, and goes back to eating his soup. In the distance, one of the small birds scream and while the gang all flinch violently, none of the swamp natives even look up from their food. Saiya looks into the forest, thinks of the things that fake-Liang said to her, and then back to her friends. They'll find Aang an earthbending teacher and then...well, she doesn't know. The lack of a plan makes her stomach do flips and when she feels eyes on her she looks and sees Katara giving her a worried look. Saiya waves her hand, but the glance Katara gives her screams "we'll talk about this later", and Saiya doesn't know what she could say to Katara if she doesn't have the answers herself. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry it's been a while since I last updated, I'm kind of running out of steam for this part of the series lol. It's necessary to write to set up some stuff but I really want to get to more Zuko stuff and original chapters! I hope you're all enjoying it so far, I'm trying to update about once to twice every two weeks but like I said we're in the boring part of the story right now.  </p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Blind Bandit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Traveling through the Earth Kingdom in search of an earthbending teacher, the gaang stumbles across the girl from Aang's visions. Convinced she's destined to be his teacher, they attempt to convince her to leave her life to travel the world and teach the Avatar.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In regards to my question in the last chapter, most people said they wanted to stick to canon, so that's what I'll be doing. Thank you to everyone who commented!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"It's pricey...." Sokka mumbles to himself while examining the fancy bag, "but I really like it!" Saiya groans, leaning up against the pillar as Sokka goes back and forth on his purchasing plans. Gaoling was a relatively wealthy town, just north of Chin Village. Saiya shivered at the memory of the village, Aang almost getting boiled, and worst of all the unfried avatar dough that they had to eat out of respect. Brushing the memory of the previous days' events, Saiya pushed herself off the wall to lean on Sokka's shoulder.</p><p>"If you like it, get it," She states simply, "that mayor gave us a bunch of money for trying to kill Aang, so," she tries to appeal to Sokka's reasonable side and he nods in agreement. </p><p>"We do have a bunch of spare money," he grabs into his pocket for the money but stops himself, "but it would be smarter to save, in case of emergencies."</p><p>"Okay, then don't get it," Saiya could feel her eyebrow twitch and Katara snickered off on the side as she watched her brother and friend bicker. She's surprised Saiya hasn't done her infamous nose pinch yet. Katara strolls to the next vendor, leaving Saiya to deal with Sokka, as Aang follows her. </p><p>"You know what? I'm gonna get it!" Sokka says triumphantly but Saiya doesn't let herself rejoice just yet considering he's said that exact same thing five minutes ago. Further down the street and vendor leans over to Katara and Aang.</p><p>"Psst, psst! Hey, you kids love earthbending? You like ... throwing rocks?" He entices and Aang's eyes light up, grabbing a flyer, "then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy!" </p><p>"Look! There's a coupon on the back! The first lesson is free!" Aang smiles broadly and Katara looks pleased.</p><p>"Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for," she suggests and Aang jumps over to show Sokka and Saiya where Sokka has surprisingly made a decision and bought the bag. </p><p>Turns out, Master Yu was very much not the teacher Aang was looking for. As he walks out the academy doors covered in dust he looks defeated. Saiya walks over to brush the dirt off his shoulders. </p><p>"He's not the on," Aang says as he smacks his head to get the sand out of his ear. </p><p>"I think The Boulder's going to win back the belt at Earth Rumble VI," Someone from beside them says, catching the group's attention.</p><p>"He's going to have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to get a shot at the champ," Another says warily and Aang's eyes light up.</p><p>"Excuse me," Aang asks politely, "but where is this earthbending tournament, exactly?" The two boys give him a curious look, before glancing at each other and smirking.</p><p>"It's on the island of Noneya," one of them says, grinning as Aang waits expectantly, "Noneya business!" he snides and high fives his friend before they turn the corner.</p><p>"Oh, I got to remember that one!" Sokka gives a full-body laugh while Katara and Saiya glare at the two boys. The two girls share a smirk of their own and take off after the boys. </p><p>"We'll take care of this," Katara reassures Aang as Saiya follows close behind the boys.</p><p>"Hey, handsome, wait up!" Saiya calls after the boys, rounding the corner with Katara close behind her. They share a look and smile cooly at the girls.</p><p>"How can we help you, sweetheart," one asks, leaning against the wall as Katara holds back a snicker. Saiya bats her eyelashes and tries her best to look innocent. </p><p>"My friend out there really wants to watch the fight, but his mom won't let him go," she lies and the other boy walks forward, looping an arm around her shoulder. </p><p>"What's a beautiful girl like you doing hanging out with little boys like him," he snides and the other boy snickers. Watching Saiya go stiff at the contact, Katara makes her move. </p><p>"Please? It would mean the world to us," She smiles kindly and they boys scoff. </p><p>"How bout we pick you girls up tonight and we'll show you what a real guy is like," he smirks and the girls share a look. In just a second, Saiya shoves the boy's arm off of her as Katara manipulates the still water on the ground around their bodies, freezing them head to head and horizontal to the wall. They both let out a shrill shriek and Katara leans down to their faces.</p><p>"Now, why don't you tell us where this Earth Rumble is," Katara says coldly and both of them shake and not just from the chill of the ice.</p><p>"Let us go!" One of them cries and Saiya leans over next to Katara. </p><p>"Don't worry, I'll thaw you out," Saiya smirks and for a moment the boys look relieved until she lights the tip of her finger on fire and their eyes go wide.</p><p>"It's underneath Mitsang's family market! Left side through the tunnel there's a small entrance!" They say in unison and the girls lean up.</p><p>"Thanks for the help!" Katara says sweetly, leaving the boys in the ice. Saiya follows behind her, leaning over her shoulder and blowing the two boys a kiss with a light gust of fire out of her mouth. As she rounds the corner to meet back up with Aang and Sokka she can hear the boys yelling behind her. Sokka and Aang give a worried glance but Katara turns them around and heads in the direction of the market. </p><p>As they enter the arena they're guided up to the seating section. The front rows are empty, with everyone sitting far back in the stands. They take their seats close to the action, where two earthbenders are going at it. </p><p>"I wonder why no one else is sitting here?" Aang wonders just as a large boulder from the fight flies their way and crushes the seats next to them. They all laugh nervously and go a few seats back. </p><p>"I guess that's why," Sokka states the obvious as they readjust and watch the fight. As the opening skirmish closes, a platform rises from the middle with a man holding a microphone. </p><p>"Welcome to Earth Rumble VI! I am your host, Xin Fu!" He announces and the crowd roars energetically. Aang looks on curiously and Sokka looks enthralled, but the girls have less happy ideas of the show.</p><p>"This is just going to be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara complains and Sokka leans over Saiya to look at his sister with a happy smile.</p><p>"That's what we paid for!" He gloats and as he leans back to watch the fights he catches the nauseous look in Saiya's face. "Hey what's wrong?" He asks quickly and the other two glance over to see Saiya. Considering she's already decently pale it's a shock to see her face almost stark white. </p><p>"I didn't know other nations did Agni Kai's for....entertainment..." she spits out, feeling both nauseous and furious. Sure, the Fire Nation made their Agni Kai's ceremonial at best, a fear tactic at worse but she didn't think other nations did it simply for the sake of enjoyment. The siblings give her a curious look while Aang looks concerned.</p><p>"I don't think this is like an Agni Kai," Aang reassures her, "it's more like a competition!" The idea calms her nerves a little.</p><p>"The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring, and you win!" Xin Fu states and Saiya lets out a breath and Aang looks pleased.</p><p>"See, no dying, just until their out of the ring!" He beams and the siblings' jaws drop.</p><p>"Death?!" Katara gasps and Sokka chokes on his popped rice.</p><p>"Agni Kai isn't to the death, Aang, it's just until one of you gets burned," she tells Aang and he gives a small 'oh' of acknowledgment before turning back to the show. Sokka and Katara share a look before deciding it's a conversation for later, and turning their attention to the show as well. The first round is pretty boring, in Saiya and Katara's opinion, but Sokka couldn't look happier. Two men, 'The Boulder' and 'The Hippo' are the first fighters. The fight doesn't last long and eventually, The Boulder prevails.</p><p>"How about The Boulder? He's got some good moves!" Katara suggests but Aang shakes his head. </p><p>"I don't know. Bumi said I need a teacher who listens to the earth. He's just listening to his big muscles. What do you think, Sokka, Saiya?" Aang asks. Sokka simply cheers and Saiya shrugs. They finish their conversation and go back to the fight. There are a few more rounds, The Boulder making it through all of them. They're at the second to last round as a man in bright red rises from the ground and Xin Fu grabs his microphone.</p><p>"Next up, The Boulder versus," Xin Fu gestures wildly to the man in Fire Nation guard uniform, "Fire Nation Man!" The entire crowd boos ferociously and Saiya chokes on her food. </p><p>"Please, to rise for Fire Nation national anthem!" He puts his hand over his heart and the other gesturing around to the crowd. Saiya covers her face with her hands as Sokka boos and Aang and Katara gawk at the sight. "Fire Lord, my flame burns for thee!" the man sings out and Saiya can feel the stares the others are giving her. </p><p>"Do you actually do that in the Fire Nation?" Katara asks in bewilderment and Saiya can feel her face go as red as the man's clothing. </p><p>"...yes," she spits out and Katara throws her head back laughing while Aang's jaw drops to the floor, "but he's not doing it right!" Saiya defends and Katara laughs even harder. </p><p>"Oh, sorry, how dare he say the Fire Nation pledge wrong," Katara laughs sarcastically and Saiya shoves her as Sokka yells at the Fire Nation Man and Aang just watches in confusion. The round doesn't last long at all and Saiya couldn't be more thankful as The Boulder wins again. </p><p>"Now for the moment you've all been waiting for," Xin Fu announces as a short person with thick black hair holding the championship belt rises from the floor, "The Boulder versus your champion," the person raises the belt into the air and Saiya can get a good look of them. It's a young girl, likely about Aang's age, in an Earth Kingdom outfit with messy black hair in a bun but the bangs fall over her face, "The Blind Bandit!" If Saiya though the crowd was loud before these cheers put it to shame. The crowd blows up with excitement for the young girl and the group sits in shock at the mere magnitude of excitement. </p><p>"She can't really be blind, right?" Katara asks and the others shrug, "It's probably just part of her character!" Saiya squints at the girl on the stage and now that shes walked closer to the middle Saiya realizes she can barely see her irises or pupils. They're glassed over, nearly blending in with the whites of her eyes. </p><p>"No, I think she is," Aang says in awe, and Sokka boos loudly next to him, causing the others to jump. </p><p>"I think she is going DOWN!" Sokka calls out and Saiya slaps him lightly.</p><p>"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young blind girl," The Boulder says, conflicted, and the Blind Bandit lets out a loud laugh.</p><p>"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder!" She mocks and the crowd roars in her favor.</p><p>"The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings," he says with a flat face before stomping a foot harshly in the ground, "and now he's ready to bury you in a rock-alanche!" He threatens and the girl laughs again.</p><p>"Whenever you're ready, The Pebble!" She sneers and the two go at each other. The boulder stomps his foot into the ground and the girl just stands there. Saiya feels her stomach flip at the thought of the little girl getting launched out of the ring but her fears dissipate as she slides her foot and a trail of rock follows, catching The Boulder's foot and sliding him into the splits. He cries out in pain as the girl chops her hand in the air and launches three slides of rock into The Boulder, sending him flying out of the arena. The four of the gasp, Sokka in disappointment but the others in awe.</p><p>"Your winner, and still the champion," Xin Fu announces as the crowd cheers, "The Blind Bandit!" </p><p>"How did she do that?!" Katara demands and Aang's face shifts from awe to understanding.</p><p>"She waited... and listened," he says simply and the girls give him a confused look while Sokka continues to mope. </p><p>"To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit!" The crowd is silent and the young girl smirks, "What? No one dares to face her?" Xin Fu asks and Aang bolts up.</p><p>"I will!" He calls and the others gasp at him. He hops down to the arena as Xin Fu looks slightly disappointed but lets the fight commence.</p><p>"Do people really want to see <em>two</em> little girls fighting out here?" The girl mocks and the crowd 'ohs' at the insult. </p><p>"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you!" Aang says simply and the girl's brow furrows.</p><p>"BOO! No talking, avenge the boulder!" Sokka calls out and Katara gawks at him.</p><p>"Don't boo Aang!" She reprimands. On the stage, Aang glides around as he evades the girl. Aang bounces around her as sends attacks at him, but only when he touches the ground. Finally going on the offensive, Aang sends a blast of air against the rock she threw at him and launches her out of the ring. The crowd sits in silence along with Xin Fu. Slowly the crowd erupts in cheers and Aang runs after the girl.</p><p>"Please, listen! I need an earthbending teacher, and I think it's supposed to be you!" Aang cries and the girl's face contorts angrily.</p><p>"Whoever you are, just leave me alone!" She demands. Aang goes back onto the stage, along with Sokka, Katara, and Saiya as they collect the prize. </p><p>"Way to go, champ!" Sokka congratulates but Aang looks less than celebratory. Saiya and Katara give him a glare and the four leave the arena with Xin Fu glaring daggers into the back of their heads. </p><p>They get an early start the next morning, scanning the town for the Blind Bandit with Aang insisting that she's destined to be his teacher. After looking around the market, they decided to see if she's a student at the earthbending academy. Walking in, however, all they see is the two boys from before.</p><p>"Oh great, you guys," one of them groans and Saiya looks him right in the eyes, causing them to both step back slightly. Looking away from her gaze, they see Aang glancing around the studio.</p><p>"Hey! You're that kid who beat the Blind Bandit!" He congratulates and Aang's eyes light up.</p><p>"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives?" Aang asks and the boys' shoulders slump.</p><p>"The Blind Bandit's a mystery," one of them says with shrug, "She shows up to fight, then disappears."</p><p>"Let me handle this," Katara puts a hand on Aang's shoulder before grabbing the front of the boy's shirt, "You're not telling us everything!" She demands and the boy's eyes widen.</p><p>"No, no, I-I swear it's true. No one knows where she goes, or who she really is!" He insists and Katara lets his shirt go with a glare.</p><p>"That's because we're asking about the wrong person," Aang says confidently and Saiya gives him a confused look, "In my vision, I saw a girl, in a white dress, with a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?" The boys share a look.</p><p>"Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Beifong family," Saiya's eyes light up at the name, she remembered her father talking about them before, "They're the richest people in town. Probably the whole world," the boy finish, and the other nods.</p><p>"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter," he says simply but the hope doesn't fade from Aang's eyes.</p><p>"A flying boar is good enough for me. Let's check it out!" Aang cheers and runs out.</p><p>Katara hears one of the boys say "yeah, you better leave," under his breath and whips around. </p><p>"I got my eye on you," She threatens and the two boys go stiff as Sokka follows her out.</p><p>"Water tribe," he whispered cooly, following his sister as Saiya stays back. The boys look at her and gulp.</p><p>"Got an address for the Beifong's?" She asks and they share a glance.</p><p>"Biggest property in town, to the north, can't miss it," one states, and the other nods in confirmation. Saiya looks between the two before giving a quick nod and following her friends. She finds them standing in the middle of the street asking for directions, which no one answers. Saiya simply continues walking north, looking on the horizon for the estate and the others follow her lead. It doesn't take long before she spots the gigantic property, surrounded by an imposing gate. On the front of the gate is a gold emblem of a flying boar. </p><p>"hat's the flying boar from my vision. Come on!" Aang insists and boosts them over the gate with his airbending. They only get a few steps before they're all launched into the air again, landing in some nearby bushes. Leaning up, Aang comes face to face with the Blind Bandit who is now dressed in an expensive dress.</p><p>"What are you doing here, Twinkle Toes?!" The girl demands.</p><p>"How did you know it was me?" Aang asks and Sokka facepalms.</p><p>"Don't answer to Twinkle Toes, it's not manly!" He cries and Katara rolls her eyes.</p><p>"You're the guy who's bag matches his belt!" She mocks and the two glared at each other before they all get up and dust themselves off. </p><p>"How'd you find me?" The girl demands, ignoring the siblings.</p><p>"Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and-" Aang starts rambling and Saiya puts a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>"What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar. And if he doesn't master earthbending soon, he won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord," Saiya explains, hoping the mention of the war will spring the girl to action. From what she remembered, the Beifongs were one of the few wealthy families outside of Ba Sing Se that hadn't sided with the Fire Nation in exchange for protection. Saiya hoped that meant the family resented the Fire Lord as much as they did, but her hope fell flat when the little girl waved her hand in a dismissing manner. </p><p>"Not my problem," she says and they all stare at her in disbelief, "Now, get out of her or I'll call the guards!" </p><p>"Look, we all have to do our part to win this war, and yours is to teach Aang earthbending," Sokka insists and the girl looks at them, smirks, and then throws her head up to call out.</p><p>"Guards! Guards! Come help!" She cries and the gang looks around nervously before scattering. Two guards run up and look around. </p><p>"Toph, what happened?" One of the guards asks and Saiya raises an eyebrow. Toph must be the name of the Blind Bandit. </p><p>"I thought I heard someone. I got scared," Toph lies, and the guards sigh.</p><p>"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph," they reprimand before leading her away. They lean out of their hiding places and all share a look.</p><p>"What now?" Saiya asks and Sokka gets his 'I-have-a-plan' smile.</p><p>"Well, they're practically celebrities in this town, right?" The others nod and walk towards the entrance, "What celebrity wouldn't want the prestige of being visited by the Avatar?" He asks and the other's eyebrows shoot up before they smile to each other. Aang throws them back over the fence and they walk towards the gate where two guards stand post. </p><p>"What is your business?" One asks and Aang steps forward and bows with the others following suit.</p><p>"I'm the Avatar," he says and the guards stoic facades drop and they gasp, looking at his airbending tattoos, "I'm here with my... team, and we would like to visit the Beifong family." He says and the guards nod to each other. </p><p>"I'm sure Mr. Beifong would be honored to have the Avatar and his team as guests," The other says before opening the gate and escorting them in. The guard informs another about their arrival and they wait in the front garden for the second guard to inform the Beifong's of their arrival. A servant arrives at the door and welcomes them in a few minutes later.</p><p>"Sorry to keep you waiting, Avatar. Mr. Beifong is overjoyed by your arrival and would like to invite you and your companions for dinner," the servant leads them through the mansion to a large dining room where a man, woman, and Toph sit. The Beifong's look ecstatic to see them, but Toph looks furious. They're guided to their seats by other servants.</p><p>"Welcome, Avatar. I'm Lao, and this is my wife Poppy and my daughter, Toph. We thank you for your visit, though it was very short notice," he chuckles and his wife laughs with him. Sokka and Katara give nervous laughs and Aang smiles, while Saiya puts on the royal court demeanor she was raised with. When no one says anything, Saiya decides she'll have to carry the manners of the group for the night.</p><p>"Our apologies, but we decided for the Avatar's safety that it would be best we don't disclose where we are traveling to," Saiya says politely and the others stare at her in amazement at her manners while Lao sighs.</p><p>"Yes, you can never be too safe these days," He says sadly before glancing to the side at Toph and lowering his voice, "Is there any update on how the war is? Has the King made a move?" He asks quietly and they all look to Saiya for the answer. Yep, she thinks to herself, definitely carrying the conversation.</p><p>"We're unsure at the moment," Saiya says vaguely and Lao nods as Saiya decides they should change the topic away from the war. "It's very nice to meet you, Mr. Beifong. My name is Saiya Kowano, I'm the Avatar's," she pauses for a moment, realizing she can't easily explain how she's his firebending teacher so instead, she says, "consultant. And this is our...stratigest," she gestures to Sokka who's chest puffs with pride at the label, "Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, and the Avatar's waterbending master, Katara of the Southern Water Tribe," Katara gives a polite smile. At least someone has some manners, Saiya grumbles to herself as she watches Sokka inhale his dinner. </p><p>"It's a pleasure," Katara bows lightly and Aang smiles next to her.</p><p>"And my name is Aang," he introduces and Lao gives him a deep bow.</p><p>"In your opinion, Avatar Aang, how long until the war is over?" He asks and Aang stiffens. </p><p>"I'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer," Aang reassures and then looks to Toph, "but I can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first." He says and Toph scowls. </p><p>"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land," Lao gestures to Yu, who's sitting at the end of the table, "He's been teaching Toph since she was little." Aang perks up at that.</p><p>"Then she must be a great earthbender! Probably good enough to teach someone else!" Aang beams and then jumps in pain. Below the table, Toph shifted the ground to slam into Aang's foot. </p><p>"Toph is still learning the basics," Yu says plainly like he's talking about a baby, and Saiya's hackles raise at his tone.</p><p>"Yes, and sadly, because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master," Lao says in a similar tone and Saiya thinks if she wasn't taught royal edict since she was a child she wouldn't be able to hide the glare she wanted to give Yu and Lao. </p><p>"Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is!" Aang says confidently and Toph jumps his chair with the earth, causing him to slam his face into his soup. He raises his head and sneezes the soup everywhere forcefully. </p><p>"What's your problem!" Toph demands and Lao and Poppy gasp.</p><p>"What's <em>your</em> problem!" Aang shoots back and Saiya leans over to push him back into his seat.</p><p>"Well, shall we move to the living room for dessert, then?" Poppy suggests and the servants stop cleaning off Toph and Yu to run off and grab food. The rest of the night is tense, with few words spoken between any of them. They finish dinner and are shown to their rooms, with Aang going off to fetch Appa and put him in the back garden of the estate for the night. Sokka and Aang are given one room, Katara and Saiya another. Saiya sits by the mirror and undoes her braids, Katara next to her undoing her plait as well. </p><p>"Where'd you learn such formal manners?" Katara asks, referencing the facade she put on during dinner.</p><p>"I was born a noble, remember?" Saiya reminds and Katara's eyebrows shoot up, which Saiya giggles at, "I had to learn how to say the right things, look the right way, etcetera etcetera. It was obnoxious to learn, but turns out it can come in handy."</p><p>"I guess you're right, I just always forget you we're...ya know," Katara waves her hand vague but Saiya still nods," You don't have an attitude." Saiya laughs at that.</p><p>"I sure hope not!" The girls laugh and say their goodnights to each other before drifting off to sleep. </p><p>Saiya gets up well before Katara, rising with the sun as always, and spends her morning reading one of the miscellaneous books on the decorative shelves in their room. It's a book about ancient Earth Kingdom mythology and Saiya is so enthralled that she doesn't hear Sokka's pounding footsteps in the hallway until he slams her door open. Katara jumps awake at the noise, staring at her brother with anxiety.</p><p>"Aang's gone! He didn't come into the room last night but I assumed he was out with Appa but he's not there either!" He cries and the two girls burst out of bed, Katara quickly throwing on her day clothes and braiding her hair before following after Sokka and Saiya. On their way out, they slam into Lao who's followed by two guards.</p><p>"Please, help, I can't find Toph!" He cries and they all share a look.</p><p>"Aang is missing as well!" Katara tells him and his eyes widen. The guards spread out and search the property, leaving the Beifong's and the gang to wait in their front room until one of the guards runs in.</p><p>"We found signs of a struggle close by the Avatar's bison, sir," He informs them and they all take off to follow him. He was right, a few yards away from the stables where Appa was is two large indents in the ground with a note in one of the holes. Sokka leans in and picks it up, the other two leaning over his shoulders to read.</p><p>"If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena." Katara reads the note out loud and Poppy gasps, "It's signed Xin Fu and The Boulder," Sokka is the one to gasp this time as he grasps the paper tightly.</p><p>"I can't believe it..." He mutters to himself before beaming happily, "I have The Boulder's autograph!" He cheers and Saiya smacks the back of his head. </p><p>"Master Yu, I need you to help me get my daughter back," Lao asks and Yu nods solemnly.</p><p>"We're coming with you," Katara tells them, and Lao nods.</p><p>"Poor Toph, she must be so scared..." Poppy cries, leaning into her husband for support. </p><p>Little to her knowledge, Toph was not scared but furious. As she and Aang hung in metal cages above the Earth Rumble arena she kicks and punches the sides of the cage, loud bangs echoing annoyingly through the stadium.</p><p>"You think you're so tough?!" She sneers below where Xin Fu and The Boulder are standing guard, "Why don't you come up here so I can snap that grin off your face?!" She yells at them and Aang stares at her, shocked at just how violently she was being. Below, Xin Fu looked up at the cages as Lao, Poppy, Yu, Sokka, Katara, and Saiya entered the stadium.</p><p>"I'm not smiling," Xin Fu glared up at the blind girl before turning towards the Beifongs and the gang. </p><p>"Here's your money," Sokka dropped the money satchel on the ground in front of Xin Fu, "Now let them go." Xin Fu grabs the pouch and inspects it before nodding for Toph to be let down. The cage is lowered onto the ground and then opened, and she calmly walks to her father's side. </p><p>"What about Aang?" Saiya demands and Xin Fu smiles.</p><p>"I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar," He says smugly and Saiya glares daggers at him, which he simply smirks at, "Now, get out of my ring." He demands. When Saiya doesn't let her guard down, and Sokka and Katara join her side, Xin Fu snaps his fingers. Fire Nation Man appears in an earth tornado. The Gecko jumps down from the ceiling. The Hippo stomps on the ground and crushes a boulder. Headhunter jumps onto the ring from the bleachers. The Gopher pops up from the underground. Saiya loses track of the tacky names and readies her stance until Aang calls down to them.</p><p>"Go! I'll be okay," He reassures but the others aren't convinced. Looking around at how outnumbered they are, Katara remembers just how easily all of these people were beat by The Boulder, who Toph easily outmatched, and an idea forms. </p><p>"Toph, there's too many of them. We need an earthbender. We need you!" Katara begs and Toph's eyebrows furrow from where she stands at her father's side. Lao pushes her behind him.</p><p>"My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile!" Lao insists and Saiya scoffs, not carrying about her polite facade anymore.</p><p>"You're the blind one if you don't realize your daughter is an earthbending master!" Saiya snaps and Lao gasps at the disrespect while Toph scoots forward.</p><p>"My daughter is nowhere near being a master, she can't help you!" At that, Toph steps forward fully.</p><p>"Yes, I can." She says plainly before walking forward where the fighters are attempting to leave with Aang, "Let him go! I beat you all before and I'll do it again!" She mocks and The Boulder scowls.</p><p>"The Boulder takes issue with that comment!" He snaps and they all ready to fight. Katara, Sokka, and Saiya stand next to Toph and get ready to attack but Toph puts a hand up.</p><p>"Wait," the three of them pause and look at her, confused, until she smirks, "they're mine." Toph creates a dust cloud surrounding the fighters and launches Aang's cage out of the ring towards the siblings and Saiya. Sokka picks up a rock and starts slamming it on the edge of the cage. In the dust cloud, they hear the fighters scream and Toph's loud laugh as Fire Nation Man goes flying out of the ring. </p><p>"Hit harder!" Katara demands of Sokka and he looks up at her angrily.</p><p>"I'm trying!" He snaps back and slams the rock down so hard that it breaks in two. Another fighter flies out of the ring, quickly followed by a third. Sokka picks up another rock and keeps hitting the lock as two more fighters fly out together.</p><p>"I never knew. Your daughter's amazing!" Yu cheers and Lao looks horrified. Toph clears the dust cloud, leaving just her and Xin Fu. Toph spits on the ground and Lao gasps at the display. As she fights him, clearly having the upper hand, Sokka keeps hitting the cage. Saiya pushes him aside.</p><p>"Let me give it a shot," she insists and grasps the lock in her hands. She focuses all of her energy in her hands and slowly heats the metal, looking to Sokka whos still holding the rock. Once the metal is glowing she removes her hands, "Hit it now!" She yells and Sokka slams the rock down, bending the metal and then finally snapping it. Just as they get Aang out, Toph sends Xin Fu flying out of the arena and in between Lao and Yu. </p><p>"She's the greatest earthbender I've ever seen!" Yu cheers while Lao looks like he's about to be sick. Poppy runs out from cover and wraps Toph in a tight hug, which Toph stiffens uncomfortably at.</p><p>"Oh sweetie I'm so sorry!" Poppy cries and Toph pats her mother's shoulder awkwardly. Lao and Yu come down from their seats and join them in the arena as Lao looks at Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Saiya angrily.</p><p>"Let's return to the house," Lao says tightly and leaves quickly. The walk back to the estate is uncomfortable at best, with Poppy coddling her daughter (who just kicked six grown men's asses), Lao sending looks to the gang, and Yu asking a flurry of questions to Toph. Lao has a servant escort the others to their rooms and after a few minutes, Katara and Saiya sneak into Aang and Sokka's room to talk about the day's events. A quiet knock at the door quiets them instantly and Aang gets up to answer the door. </p><p>"Um, hello?" He asks quietly as he opens the door before smiling widely, "Toph!" He cheers and the other girl pushes him back in the room and closes the door quickly. </p><p>"Quiet down Twinkle Toes!" She shushes him and he sits down on the bed.</p><p>"Sorry," Aang apologizes sheepishly but Toph just stares at them. </p><p>"Twinkle Toes here already offered but I can see you guys are all about the mushy gushy friendship thing, so I'm asking all of you," Toph starts and they share a confused look, "I want to train Aang and travel with you guys." She says simply, not even phrasing it as a question. Aang looks at them with polar bear-puppy dog eyes.</p><p>"You kicked serious ass out there," Sokka starts and Katara snaps a quiet 'language!' which he ignores, "we could definitely use someone like that, and you're a great earthbender. I'm fine with you coming along!" Aang turns to Saiya and gives her the same eyes which she chuckles at.</p><p>"You'll be a great addition to the team," Saiya gives her a smile and while Toph can't see it, she hopes she hears it in her voice. Toph gives a smile in her direction and Aang turns to Katara. </p><p>"Coming with us is going to be dangerous," Katara warns and Toph scowls.</p><p>"You think I can't handle it?" Toph snaps and Katara's shoulders slump.</p><p>"I'm not saying that I'm just saying you should check with your parents first. You're still young, and you're gonna be in a lot more danger than you were in today if you come with us." Toph puffs her hair out of her face and crosses her arms.</p><p>"Fine, let's go ask," Toph says and walks out of the room. They all share a look before following after Toph. She leads them into one of the sitting rooms where her parents are having tea. They look up, Poppy shocked to see the group but Lao just looking angry as Toph stands in front of them.</p><p>"Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way. But the obedient little helpless blind girl that you think I am just isn't me!" Toph starts and Lao and Poppy stare at her, "I love fighting. I love being an earthbender, and I'm really, really good at it. I could teach the Avatar earthbending, help stop the war. I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me, but I'm twelve years old and I've never had a real friend." Saiya feels her heart pang for Toph and hopes she can come with them, but the look on Lao's face doesn't let her get her hopes up. "So, now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me." Toph finishes and Poppy is left staring wide-eyed at her daughter while Lao sighs.</p><p>"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's made me realize something," He says and all of their spirits perk up. </p><p>"It has?" Toph asks hopefully and Lao nods.</p><p>"I've let you had far too much freedom. From now on you'll be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day." Lao says matter-of-factly and Toph gasps.</p><p>"But, dad!" Toph cries and Lao glares at the others.</p><p>"We're doing this for your own good, Toph," Poppy reassures Toph but the girl still looks deeply upset.</p><p>"Please escort the Avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here," Lao says coldly and two guards show up on the sides of the group, leading them out of the house. Aang turns back for one moment and sees a tear roll down Toph's face.</p><p>"I'm sorry," He says quietly to the girl and another tear follows.</p><p>"I'm sorry too. Goodbye, Aang," She says sorrowfully as the group is lead to the stables where servants have placed their bags near Appa. They quietly pack up their belongings and ready Appa when Katara notices the whistful look on Aang's face as he looks at the mansion.</p><p>"Don't worry, we'll find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there!" Katara placates Aang but he just sighs. </p><p>"Not like her," he says quietly as they get onto Appa's saddle where Sokka's polishing the Earth Rumble belt. They get ready to leave until they hear footsteps running towards them. Turning, they see Toph in her Earth Rumble outfit and a small bag running towards them.</p><p>"Toph! What are you doing here?" Katara asks and she smiles brightly.</p><p>"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world!" She tells them and they all look at each other, skeptical of the truth of Toph's statement, but Aang just smiles brightly.</p><p>"Well, we'd better get out of here, before your dad changes his mind again," Saiya says casually and gets off to help Toph up. </p><p>"You're going to be a great teacher, Toph," Aang tells her with a smile, and Toph smirks.</p><p>"Speaking of which, I want to show you something," she says and Aang cocks and eyebrow but jumps onto the ground anyways.</p><p>"Okay, what is it?" He asks and the second he lands Toph launches him into the air with a pillar of rock. Katara gasps, Sokka cackles loudly, and Saiya snickers as Aang slowly descends to the ground.</p><p>"Now we're even!" She says with a toothy grin and reaches her hand in the air, "I'll take my belt back now," She asks Sokka and he groans before throwing the belt in her direction. It hits he square in the chest and knocks her onto the ground with a grunt.</p><p>"Sokka what the hell!" Katara yells as Saiya helps Toph get up.</p><p>"Sorry," Sokka says sheepishly and Toph pushes Saiya's hands away.</p><p>"I can help myself," Toph snaps and Saiya puts her hands up in defense. </p><p>"Just be careful, it's hard to get onto the saddle the first time," Saiya says with a shrug and walks up Appa's tail onto the saddle. Toph follows behind her but the second her feet stand on Appa she freezes. Katara is checking Aang for bruises from Toph's payback and Sokka is already zoning out for the flight which leaves Saiya to stare at Toph. They say nothing as Saiya puts her hand on Toph's shoulder and the younger girl grabs her forearm to lead her up the saddle. She sits down with a slight blush of embarrassment on her face and Saiya simply pats her shoulder, not saying a word, and guides her hand to one of the many handles on Appa's saddle. Toph grips it with a confused look and Saiya leans into the side of the saddle, getting comfortable for a long flight.</p><p>"Hold on tight, Toph!" Aang calls back before taking off. The second they leave the ground Toph yelps in surprise and clings even tighter to the handle much to Sokka's amusement. He laughs loudly and Toph leans over and punches in the direction of his voice, which just so happens to be his face. Sokka cries out and cradles his jaw while Toph smirks and the others laugh. </p><p>"As I said, a great addition to the team," Saiya jokes, and the others laugh harder, even Sokka cracking a smile. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Toph time!!!!!! Sadly, these next couple chapters deviate from the main story to follow Saiya so we see very little of Toph (or the gaang in general), but she will definitely be back! Next up in the story are some original chapters, and then after that is the climax of book 2 so I'm super pumped!! Sorry this chapter is kind of jumpy in the setting. In the episode, there's a lot of time skips that work well in animation but are hard to write out.</p><p>Also with Toph needing Saiya's help to get onto Appa at the end: in the show, Toph is able to sense humans and animals when they're in contact with the earth or she's in direct contact with them. However, I feel like with her being able to see through direct contact I think that's something she learned while flying on Appa. She would've had no need to learn how to do that before leaving with the gaang so in the beginning she's not great at it and that's why she gets nervous and needs Saiya's help. But she's the greatest earthbender in the world so she picks it up pretty fast, just not at first. </p><p>Thank you for reading! &lt;3</p>
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